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STATE  NORIilAL  SCHOOL, 

ttOS  ANGELiES,  CHli. 


SAMUEL   SLATER. 
"The  Father  of  American  Cotton  Manufacture. 


THE 


INDUSTRIAL  EVOLUTION 


OF 


THE  UNITED  STATES 


BY 

CARROLL  D.  WRIGHT,  LL.D. 

United  States  Commissioner  of  Labor 


/Sz/S 


NEW   YORK 
CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 

1902 


Copyright,  1895,  1897 
by  Flood  &  Vincent 


51  0 


THE  CAXTON  PRESS 
NEW  YORK. 


HC 

103 

(J 


t3* 
*17 


TO 

PRESIDENT 
FRANCIS  A.  WALKER. 


PREFACE. 

The  plan  of  this  work  comprehends  a  plain,  simple 
statement  of  the  leading  facts  attending  the  planting  and 
development  of  the  mechanical  industries  of  our  country. 
No  attempt  has  been  made  to  discuss  some  of  the  influ- 
ences which  have  affected  their  development,  such  as  the 
varied  effects  of  tariff  legislation,  financial  experiments, 
foreign  policies,  or  economic  conditions  and  principles. 
To  have  entered  upon  an  ambitious  field  involving  such 
important  elements  in  the  evolution  of  industry  would 
have  led  to  a  work  much  more  extensive  than  that  con- 
templated. The  results  have  been  given,  however,  in 
such  concise  form  as  to  present  the  general  story  of  our 
industrial  growth  and  the  logical  effects  of  such  growth 
as  shown  in  the  various  phases  of  the  labor  movement. 
Modern  industry  brought  this  movement  as  it  is  now  un- 
derstood into  existence,  and  its  influence  upon  future  de- 
velopment will  be  important. 

As  invention  has  been  the  vitalizing  principle  of  the 
factory  system,  it  has  been  deemed  wise  to  incorporate 
chapters  on  the  influence  of  machinery.  These  chap- 
ters, the  last  three,  are  largely  from  addresses  which  I 
have  made,  and  the  line  of  thought  followed  in  them  is 
the  result  of  extended  observation  and  the  wide  study  of 
facts,  a  study  which  has  led  me  to  change  the  conclus- 
ions reached  by  the  earlier  consideration  of  what  I  now 
see  was  a  limited  range  of  experiences. 

The  inception  of  great  industries  duringthe  past  quar- 
ter of  a  century  and  the  building  up  of  great  manufactur- 


vi  Preface. 

ing  establishments  are  features  which,  however  desirable 
in  an  exhaustive  work,  could  not  be  treated  in  detail, 
but  the  figures  showing  the  results  of  such  undertakings 
have  been  freely  used,  and  they  tell  the  story  of  the  gen- 
eral movement  and  of  the  distribution  of  industrial  in- 
terests. 

The  details  of  the  development  of  transportation  are 
legitimate  features  of  the  evolution  of  industry,  but  they 
have  been  omitted,  that  a  continuous  general  story  might 
be  told  in  such  a  way  as  to  interest  and  instruct  the  class 
of  readers  for  whom  this  work  is  intended  ;  but  their 
great  importance  is  recognized,  as  well  as  the  importance 
of  mining,  agriculture,  and  other  sources  of  our  vast  sup- 
ply of  raw  materials. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  work  I  have  had  the  skilful 

services  of  Messrs.  Samuel  C.  Dunham  and  Charles  W. 

Morris,  Jr.,  in  stenographic  work,  in  proof-reading,  and 

in    the   verification   of  names,    dates,    etc.      I    am    also 

indebted  to  Mr.  Wm.  M.  Steuart,  late  Chief  of  Division 

of  Manufactures  in  the  Eleventh  Census,  for  the  verifica- 

ti'ni  of  figures  taken  from  that  and  preceding  censuses. 

All  the  maps  and  diagrams  have  been  drawn   by  Mr. 

Charles  G.  Leonard  especially  for  this  volume,  and  many 

of  the  illustrations  are  from  original  sources. 

C.  D.  w. 
Washington,  D.   C,  Jane  I,  1895. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER.  PAGE. 

Introduction 1 1 

PART  I.— THE  EVOLUTION  OF  INDUSTRY  : 
THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD. 

I.     The  Inception  of    Industries — 

Shipbuilding 23 

II.     Shipbuilding  (Concluded)     ....  33 

III.  Textile  Industries 43 

IV.  Textile  Industries   (Concluded)   .  53 
V.     Printing  and  Publishing    ....  61 

VI.     Sawmills — Buildings    and    Build- 
ing   Materials 71 

VII.     The  Iron  Industry 80 

VIII.     The   Iron   Industry  (Concluded)  .  92 

IX.     Labor    and   Wages 104 

PART   II.— THE    EVOLUTION   OF    INDUSTRY: 
1 790-1 890. 

X.     The    Development    of    the    Fac 

tory    System 117 

XI.     The  Development   of   Industrii  s. 

1 790-1 860 132 

XII.     The   Civil   War;    An    Industrial 

Revolution 143 

XIII.     The  Development   of   Industries, 

1 860-1 890 159 

vii 


VIII 


(  '<>>//<  ills. 


i  HAPTI  i  PAGE. 

XIV.  'I'm;  Development  of   Industries, 

1860-1S90    (Concluded) 174 

XV.  The  Number  of  Persons  Employed 

and  Their  Total  Wages  .    .    .    189 
XVI.     Women  and  Children  in  Industry  200 
XVII.     Labor  and  Rates  of  Wages,  1790- 

1S90 215 

PART  III.  — THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT. 

XVIII.  The  Inception  of  the  Labor  Move- 
ment    231 

XIX.     Labor  Organizations 241 

XX.  Labor   Organizations    (Concluded)  253 

XXI.  The  Basis  of  Labor  Legislation  .  264 

XXII.     Labor    Legislation 273 

XXIII.  Labor    Legislation    (Concluded)  .  283 

XXIV.  Labor    Controversies 293 

XXV.     Historic  Strikes 301 

XXVI.     The    Chicago    Strike,    1894 — Boy- 
cotts   313 

PART  IV— THE  INFLUENCE  OF  MACHINERY 
ON   LABOR. 

XXVII.     The  Influence  of   Machinery   on- 
Labor — Displacement 323 

XXVIII.     The  Infufnce   of   Machinery  on 

Labor — Expansion 336 

XXIX.     Tiii':   Ethical    Influence    of    Ma- 
chinery   on     Labor 343 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Samuel  Slater Frontispiece. 

PAGK. 

Marquette  Descending  the  Mississippi 31 

The  "  Half-Moon  "  on  the  Hudson 32 

Fulton's  "Clermont,"  1807 37 

Bell's  Steamboat,  "Comet,"  1812 38 

"Old   Ironsides" 40 

A  Modern  Atlantic  Liner 42 

The  Spinning-Wheel j  j 

The   Hand-Loom 45 

Arkwright's  Spinning  Machine 50 

Hargreaves'   Spinning-Jenny 54 

Crompton's  Mule-Jenny 56 

Benjamin  Franklin 6i 

The  Franklin  Press 65 

Plymouth,  1621 73 

The  First  Church  Erected  in  Connecticut,  1638 75 

Weaving  Room  in  a  Cotton-Mill,  Lowell,  Massachusetts  .  124 

Eli  Whitney's  Original  Cotton-Gin 127 

Hulling  Cotton-Gin,  withFeeder,  Breaker,  and  Condenser  128 

The  Self-Acting  Mule 129 

English  Power-Loom  for  Weaving  Calico 130 

Weaving  Room  in  a  Southern  Cotton-Mill 134 

The  Sewing  Machine 141 

A  Virginia  Tobacco  Field 141 

A  Leaf  Tobacco  Sale  in  Virginia 14s 

Stemming  Tobacco  in  a  Virginia  Factory [50 

Drying  Room  in  a  Southern  Tobacco  Factory [53 

Picking  Cotton '. 1 5 1 

"Cotton  Day"  at  Marietta,  Georgia [56 

Shipping  Cotton,  Charleston,  South  Carolina 157 

Hand-Loom  now  in  Use  in  North  Carolina 163 

A  Family  Teasing  Wool [65 

Shoemaker  at  the  Bench 169 

"The  Champion"  Pegger 17.' 

Spinning  Room  in  a  Southern  Cotton  Factory 17*. 

Tne  Dorrance  "Breaker,"  near  Wilkes  Barre,  Pa 179 

Wilkes  Barre  "Breaker  Boys" 181 

Old-Fashioned  Stage  Coach 324 

Passenger  Car,  1S34 326 

Freight  Car,   1835 326 

Freight  and  Passenger  Cars,  1848 327 

Model  of  the  John  Stevens  Locomotive,  1825 328 


Maps  and  Diagrams. 


PAGE. 

Model  of  the  Stockton  and  Darlington  Locomotive,  No.  i  330 

The  "George  Washington"  Locomotive,  1835 332 

The  H"<-  Sextuple  Stereotype  Perfecting  Press  and  Folder  333 
First  Steam  Train  on  the  Pennsylvania  State-Railroad    .   .    335 

The  "Pioneer,"  First  Locomotive  in  Chicago 339 

A  Modern  Locomotive 34° 

Masonic  Temple,  Chicago 344 

MAPS  AND  DIAGRAMS. 

Map  showing  Number  of  Inhabitants  to  the  Square  Mile  in 

Each  State First  front  lining  page. 

Map  showing  Ratio  of  Imports  to  Exports,  and  General 

Direction  of  Each  .    .....    .  Second  front  lining  page. 

Centers  of  Population  at  Each  Census  from  1790  to  1890  .    .  17 

Railway  Mileage  of  the  United  States 18 

Manufacturing  Industries 159 

Center  of  Manufacturing,  1850-1890 160 

Textiles       161 

Cotton 162 

Wool;  Carpets 164 

Silk 165 

Dyeing  and  Finishing 166 

Tailoring 167 

Ladies'  Clothing 168 

Foot-wear 169 

Food  Products 171 

Flour,  Meal,  etc ! 172 

Meat-packing  and  Slaughtering 174 

Iron  and  Steel 177 

Coke 180 

Petroleum 183 

Lumber,  etc.  ;  Brick  and  Tile 184 

Printing  and  Publishing 185 

Total  Number  of  Employees 191 

Total  Wages  Paid  to  Ail  Employees 192 

Number  of  Women  Employees 205 

Number  of  Children  Employees 207 

City  Public  Works 217 

Cotton  Goods 218 

Agricultural  Implements  ;  Books  and  Newspapers  ....  219 

Lumber;  Metals  and  Metallic  Goods 220 

Taper;  Woolen  Goods 221 

Railroads  ;  Building  Trades 222 

All  Industries 223 

Carriages  and  Wagons 224 

All  Articles  Averaged  According  to  Importance  .    .    .  226,  227 
Map  showing  Distribution  of  Gold,  Silver,  Coal,  and  Iron, 

First  end  lining  page. 
Map  showing  Acquisition  of  Territory  .  Second  end  lining  page. 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  EVOLUTION 

OF  THE 

UNITED  STATES. 


INTRODUCTION. 

/6-z/S 

LAND. — RESOURCES. — POPULATION. 

By  the  definitive  treaty  of  Paris,  September  3,  1783, 
between  the  United  States  and  England,  the  United  States 
gained  all  the  material  objects  of  the  Revolution  and  came 
into  possession  of  an  imperial  estate  of  827,844  square 
miles  of  territory.*  This  was  the  national  domain  March 
4,  1789,  when  the  new  constitution  went  into  effect  and 
the  federal  government  under  it  began  its  operations.  It 
consisted  of  the  thirteen  original  states  and  the  territory 
claimed  by  some  of  them.  The  area  of  the  United  States 
since  then  has  been  greatly  increased  by  purchase,  by 
conquest,  and  by  cession.  The  first  great  accessions  were 
through  the  acquisition  of  the  Louisiana  and  Oregon 
tracts  in  1803-5,  covering  1,171,931  square  miles.  The 
Florida  purchase  of  18 19  added  59,268  square  miles. 
From  Texas  in  1845  the  United  States  gained  376,163 
square  miles,  while  the  first  Mexican  cession  added  545,- 
753  square  miles,  and  the  Gadsden  purchase,  in  1853, 
44,064   square    miles.      In    1867    Russia,   by   purchase, 


Land. 


•I  have  used  the  areas  of  the  original  territory  of  the  United  States  and  all 
accessions  thereto  as  given  in  the  Federal  Census  Reports.  They  have  been 
made- with  great  care  by  Prof.  Henry  Gannett,  of  the  Geological  Survey  and 
Geographer  of  the  Census.  The  statements  of  no  two  authorities  agree,  the 
disagreement  resulting  from  different  estimates  of  boundary  lines.  The  varia- 
tion, however,  is  not  very  great.  It  seems  wiser,  therefore,  to  take  the  state- 
ments of  the  federal  government. 


12         Industrial  Evolution  of  the   I  Vnited  States. 


National 
domain. 


Public  domain. 


Resources. 


ceded  to  the  United  States  Alaska,  with  an  estimated 
area  of  532,409  square  miles.'-''-  All  these  acquisitions, 
added  to  the  original  territory,  make  the  total  area  of  our 
national  domain  3,558,009  square  miles,  f 

The  "  public  domain"  of  the  United  States,  as  distin- 
guished from  the  "national  domain,"  comprehends  the 
lands  within  federal  boundaries  owned  by  the  government 
and  which  were  at  its  disposal  for  public  purposes  in  va- 
rious ways.  The  "public  domain"  is  the  name  given 
by  the  General  Land  Office  to  these  lands.  Before  any 
dispositions  the  public  domain  contained  2,889,179.91 
square  miles.  \  This  vast  quantity  of  land  has  been  dis- 
posed of  through  sales  to  settlers,  grants  to  states  for  ed- 
ucational and  other  purposes,  and  grants  to  railroads  to 
aid  them  in  building  their  lines,  until  there  remains  at  the 
present  time  only  946,938  square  miles  subject  to  the 
disposition  of  the  federal  government.  1 1  Had  the  govern- 
ment retained  all  the  public  domain,  it  would  now  have 
at  its  disposal  an  area  of  lands  somewhat  less  than  that 
of  the  whole  United  States,  excluding  Alaska.  It  will  be 
seen  that  the  land  element  in  the  industrial  development 
of  the  country  has  been  amply  sufficient  to  justify  the 
prophecies  of  the  statesmen  who  founded  the  govern- 
ment. 

The  natural  resources  of  the  United  States  consist  of 
almost  every  species  of  raw  material  produced  by  or  from 
the  earth  essential  to  make  a  nation  great  in  the  three 
lines  of  development — agriculture,  manufactures,  com- 
merce. The  people  in  colonial  days  were  quite  content 
in  the  utilization  of  the  natural  resources  of  the  soil  and 
the  forests.     In  the  settlement  of  Virginia  it  was  expected 

*  Estimate  of  Ivan  Petroff,  Special  Agent  of  the  Tenth  Census. 

tSee  map  sh<  >\\  ing  accessions. 

I"  The  Public  Domain,"  by  Thomas  Donaldson. 

I  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office,  1S94. 


Introduction.  13 


that  great  gold  mines  would  be  discovered,  and  prospect- 
ing was  at  once  begun.  The  results,  however,  were  not 
satisfactory,  and  attention  was  turned  to  the  exportation 
of  timber,  later  on  of  tobacco,  and  afterward  of  cotton. 
The  northern  settlements  exported  manufactured  timber  Exportation 
in  the  shape  of  shingles,  ship  timber,  and  other  products 
of  the  forest.  The  fisheries  also  added  to  the  resources 
of  the  colonists,  and  as  the  settlements  extended  back 
from  the  coast,  both  north  and  south,  various  attempts 
were  made,  some  successful  and  others  unsuccessful, 
toward  winning  from  nature  what  she  had  to  give  with- 
out going  beneath  the  surface.  The  vast  tracts  of  virgin 
forest  supplied  the  material  for  building,  as  well  as  prod- 
ucts for  exportation.  These  simple  natural  products  at- 
tracted settlers  and  gave  them  sufficient  occupation,  but 

as  the  country  grew  the  discovery  of  iron  and  lead  ores 

11  •  1  1     •,  •  Gold,  silver 

and  of  coal,  and  occasionally  of  gold  and  silver,  increased    and  iron. 

the  wealth  of  the  country  and  aided  in  its  wonderful  de- 
velopment.* There  are  no  estimates  of  the  area  of  the 
iron,  gold,  and  silver  lands  of  the  country  that  can  be 
trusted,  but  the  coal-fields  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountain 
and  Pacific  tiers  of  states  would  cover  an  area  of  nearly 
one  hundred  thousand  square  miles,  a  territory  a  dozen 
times  as  large  as  the  state  of  Massachusetts.  The  dis- 
covery of  great  quantities  of  gold  in  California-  in  1849 
gave  a  new  impetus  to  the  development  of  our  mineral 
resources,  while  the  states  of  Nevada,  Arizona,  and  Col- 
orado have  given  of  their  wealth  in  great  abundance. 

The  value  of  natural  products  can  be  stated  in  figures   wealth. 
for  the  year  1SS9.      In  that  year  the  farms  gave  $2,460,- 
107,454  worth  of  products  for  the  support  of  our  people 
and  for  foreign  trade.      The  value  of  the  products  of  all 

♦For  distribution  of  mineral  products  see  map  showing  deposits  of  gold, 
silver,  coal,  and  iron. 


14        Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


lis. mi,  is. 


mining  industries  was  $587,230,662;  of  the  fisheries, 
natural*"  £44,277,514;  and  of  the  forests,  $446,034,761.  This 
last  value  includes  $8,077,379  worth  of  tar  and  turpen- 
tine, $403,667,575  worth  of  lumber  and  other  mill  prod- 
ucts, and  $34,289,807  worth  of  timber  products  not  man- 
ufactured at  mill.  The  total  value  of  all  these  natural 
resources  for  the  year  1889  was  $3,537>65°>39I — cer- 
tainly a  vast  product,  representing  labor,  the  profitable 
investment  of  capital,  and  the  energy  of  the  people.  The 
wealth  of  the  country,  including  all  material  evidences  of 
wealth,  like  land,  buildings,  merchandise,  and  all  forms 
of  real  and  personal  property,  in  1890  amounted  to  $65,- 
037,091,197,  of  which  amount$39,544,544,333  represents 
the  value  of  real  estate  and  the  improvements  thereon 
and  $25,492,546,864  that  of  personal  property,  including 
railroads,  mines,  and  quarries.  Of  course  these  great 
amounts  are  only  approximately  correct,  there  being 
many  elements  to  preclude  perfect  accuracy,  but  they 
have  been  arrived  at  with  great  care  and  serve  well  their 
purpose  to  illustrate  the  development  of  the  country  as 
shown  in  property  in  existence.  No  comparative  state- 
ments for  any  colonial  period  can  be  made.  The  per 
capita  wealth  at  the  present  time  is  about  one  thousand 
dollars.  It  will  be  seen  by  these  figures  that  the  means 
for  development  are  unlimited  and  indicate  the  activity  of 
our  people. 

From  the  time  of  the  first  permanent  settlement  in  Vir- 
ginia in  1607  and  in  Massachusetts  in  1620,  the  popula- 
tion of  the  colonies  grew  to  be  nearly  four  millions  at  the 
time  of  the  adoption  of  the  federal  constitution,  March  4, 

1789.  This  constitution  provided  that  a  census  of  the 
people  should  be  taken  every  tenth  year,  beginning  with 

1790.  The  first  census  showed  a  population  of  3,929,- 
214.      Mr.  Bancroft,  the  historian,  states  that  in  1775  the 


Introduction.  15 


colonies  were  inhabited  by  persons  ' '  one  fifth  of  whom 
had  for  their  mother-tongue  some  other  language  than 
the  English."  The  one  fifth  who  could  not  claim  the 
English  mother-tongue  came  from  France,  Sweden,  Hol- 
land, and  Germany,  the  importance  of  the  contributions 
being  in  the  order  named.  Drawing  the  line  at  the  date 
named,  the  beginning  of  our  constitutional  government, 
the  descendants  of  the  people  then  living  now  constitute 
what  may  be  called  popularly  the  true  American  stock.  American 
At  the  time  of  the  first  census  (1790)  about  seven  hun-  s 
dred  and  fifty  thousand  of  the  people  of  the  United  States 
were  colored.  The  population  for  each  decennial  census 
was  as  follows  : 

Census  Per  cent 

years.  Population,     of  increase. 

179° 3,929>2I4  •    •  • 

1800 5,308,483  35.10 

1810 7,239,881  36.38 

1820 9,633,822  33-°7 

1830 12,866,020  33.55 

1840 17,069,453  32.67 

1850 23,191,876  35. S7 

i860 31,443,321  35.58 

1870 38,558,371  22.63 

1880 50,155,783  30-08 

1890 62,622,250  24.S6 

The  population  June  1,  1890,  excluding  Indians  and  Present  popuia- 
other  persons  in  Indian  Territory,  on  Indian  reservations, 
and  in  Alaska,  was  62,622,250,  as  given  in  the  foregoing 
table ;  but  including  these  persons  the  aggregate  popu- 
lation of  the  United  States  and  its  territories  was  62,- 
979,766.*  It  is  probable  that  now,  in  the  year  1895,  the 
population  is  about  sixty-eight  millions.  The  average 
number  of  inhabitants  to  the  square  mile,  taking  the 
gross  area,  land  and  water  surface,  was  in  1790,  4.75, 
while  in  1890  it  was  20.70.     The  increase  of  population 

♦See  map  showing  distribution  of  population  at  eleventh  census  (1890). 


* 


1 6        hi  dust  rial  Evolution  of  the   I  hited  Stales. 

has  come  through  natural  increase  and  by  immigration. 
Prior  to  1819  no  account  was  taken  of  the  number  of  im- 
migrants settling  in  the  United  States,  but  the  accepted 
estimate  gives  the  total  number  between  the  first  census 
and  the  year  1819  as  250,000.  Since  that  year  the  fed- 
eral government  has  taken  account  of  immigration  ;  yet 
it  has  not  been  a  correct  one  in  all  respects,  on  account 
immigration.  of  the  faults  in  the  entries  of  total  alien  passengers,  etc.  ; 
but  since  1856  immigrants  have  been  given  separately, 
so  that  the  movements  in  this  direction  for  each  year  are 
now  given  with  fair  accuracy.  Up  to  June  30,  1894,  the 
total  number  of  immigrants  since  1790  was  17,363,977. 
Nearly  one  half  of  the  number  arriving  since  the  year 
1820  has  come  from  Ireland  and  the  German  states,  in- 
cluding Prussia,  and  of  this  half  of  the  whole  foreign  im- 
migration more  than  one  half  has  come  from  the  German 
states.  The  balance  of  the  immigration  has  come  from 
all  parts  of  Europe  and  some  parts  of  Asia,  while  the 
British  possessions  and  South  America  have  contributed 
a  fair  share.  According  to  the  census  of  1890,  the  popu- 
lation consisted  of  Si, ^72,70^  native-born  and  9,240,^47 

Native  and  .  OOiOl     tl     O  y*    -1-?>Jt/ 

foreign-born.  foreign-born,  but  the  number  of  persons  having  one  or 
both  parents  foreign-born  was  20,676,046,  or  33.02  per 
cent  of  the  whole  population.  Taking  this  number  and 
those  whose  grandparents  were  born  abroad  into  con- 
sideration, it  becomes  quite  evident  that  while  in  1775 
one  fifth  of  the  population  of  the  colonies  could  not 
claim  for  their  mother-tongue  the  English  language, 
now  one  half  cannot  make  such  claim. 

The  strangers  attracted  to  this  country  through  the 
facilities  for  gaining  land  and  through  a  desire  largely 
to  better  conditions,  have  been  assimilated  with  great 
facility,  for  the  truth  that  strikes  all  observers  who 
study  tn  any  extent   the  immigration  to  this  country  is 


Introduction. 


17 


that  the  descendants  of  recruits  from  all  nationalities  be- 
come in  one  or  two  generations  thoroughly  American. 
The  exceptions  are  few  and  not  sufficient  to  vitiate  the 
general  statement.  This  great  population  has  spread 
itself  over  the  whole  country,  it  has  multiplied  the  orig- 
inal thirteen  states  to  forty-four,  it  has  prospected  every 
region,  it  knows  where  its  richest  deposits  are  to  be 
found.  Jefferson  said  it  would  be  one  thousand  years 
before  the  Great  Northwest  would  be  settled,  but  he  said 
this  not  foreseeing  the  great  inventions  which  have  made 
it  possible  for  the  people  to  settle  in  the  remotest  corners 
of  the  land.  The  pioneer  element  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race  could  not  content  itself  until  it  had  reached  the  ut- 
most western  boundary  of  its  American  inheritance.  It 
has  developed  cities  and  founded  states,  like  its  Aryan 


Distribution  of 
population. 


z 


■s,~,-\ — 


OH  I  O 


0 


PENNSYLVANIA 

'"       Harrittu 

V  MO 

KENTUCKY       V^VoP  V  V    / 

'     V 


Centers  of  Population  in  the  United  States  at  each  Census  from 
1790  to  1890. 

ancestry  in  its  march  from  the  table-lands  of  Central  Asia  center  of 
across  and  over  the  whole  of  Europe.      In  the  forty-four  popu< 
states  there  are  now  448  cities  having  a  population  of 


1 8        Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


\ Irban  popula- 
tion. 


\ 


Railroad 
mileage. 


more  than  eight  thousand  each,  while  in  1790,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  our  federal  existence,  there  were  but  six  such 
cities.  The  urban  population  now  constitutes  29. 20  per 
cent  of  the  total  population,  while  in  1790  it  constituted 
but  3.35  per  cent  of  the  total.  The  center  of  population 
has  shifted  westward.  At  the  time  of  the  first  enumera- 
tion it  was  twenty-three  miles  east  of  Baltimore  ;  to-day 
it  is  twenty  miles  east  of  Columbus,  in  the  state  of  Indi- 
ana. It  has  moved  westward  505  miles  in  one  hundred 
years,  and  constantly  along  the  39th  parallel  of  latitude, 
varying  but  a  few  minutes  from  that  degree.  The  center 
of  area,  not  taking  Alaska  into  account,  is  in  northern 
Kansas,  approximately  in  latitude  390  55'. 

These  elements — land,  resources,  and  people — are  the 
basic  elements  of  our  industrial  evolution.  With  them 
alone,  however,  industrial  development  could  not  take 


RAILWAY  MILEAGE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

IN    THOUSANOS. 

1.830 
1  840 
1850 
I860 
18  70 
I88O 
1890 

20            40            eo            eo            100           izo           140           iea 

■ 

place.  There  must  be  added  the  vitalizing  element  of 
intelligence,  inventive  genius,  and  courage.  The  people 
of  the  United  States  have  furnished  these  qualities  ;  so 
the  foundation  for  the  story  has  been  laid  with  abundant 
strength  and  proper  proportions. 

The  great  influence  of  transportation  is  best  illustrated 
by  the  mileage  of  railroads.      In  1830  only  twenty-three 


Introduction.  19 


miles  of  railroads  were  operated  in  the  United  States, 
while  in  1890  there  were  163,597  riiiles,  and  in  1893 
there  were  173,433  miles. 

This  represents  the  means  of  carrying  on  internal  com-  Means  of  tr 
merce,  but  in  addition  to  the  railroads,  water  transports-  '",r 
tion  adds  largely  to  freight  and  passenger  facilities.  The 
navigable  rivers  and  the  Great  Lakes  all  have  their  vast 
carrying  trade  ;  but  the  development  of  the  whole  inter- 
nal commerce  is  fully  illustrated  by  the  miles  of  railroad 
operated  at  different  periods. 

The  resources  of  the  country,  resulting  in  the  products 
that  have  been  stated,  have  brought  to  the  United  States 
vast  commercial  relations.  The  exports  for  the  year  end-  Kxports. 
ing  June  30,  1894,  amounted  to  $892,142,572,  while  the 
imports,  both  free  and  dutiable,  were  valued  at  $654,- 
994,622.  This  great  trade  is  represented  on  the  accom- 
panying map,  and  the  countries  of  the  world  with  which 
the  United  States  has  commercial  relations  are  shown 
thereon. 


PART  I. 

THE  EVOLUTION  OF  INDUSTRY 

THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD. 


PART  I -THE  EVOLUTION  OF  INDUSTRY: 
THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD. 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE   INCEPTION    OF    INDUSTRIES. — SHIPBUILDING. 

The  beginnings  of  great  nations  are  usually  shrouded 
in  mystery  and  doubt.  Tradition  crystallizes  into  his- 
tory or  into  what  is  accepted  as  such.  The  beginnings  uncertainty  of 
of  industry  are  more  in  doubt  than  the  beginnings  of  earl>  hlstor>'- 
nations  themselves.  It  is  impossible  to  learn  when  the 
ordinary  handicrafts  which  have  been  essential  to  the 
progress  of  man  were  developed  to  such  an  extent  that 
they  could  be  called  handicrafts.  Weaving,  spinning, 
pottery,  stone-working,  even  iron-working,  and  many 
other  industries  that  to-day  constitute  the  greatest  and 
most  important  elements  in  our  manufactures  and  com- 
merce, cannot  be  traced  to  their  starting-points. 

The  American  nation  has  the  advantage  of  most  great 
nations,  for  its  beginnings  are  clearly  defined,  its  growth 
readily  traceable,  its  expansion  matters  of  record.    Doubts 
may  exist  as  to  certain  features  of  American  history,  but 
its  great  trend  can  be  followed  with  clearness.     Its  indus-    Trend  of 
trial  development  forms  part  of  its  history,  and  consti-    Industrial 
tutes  one  of  its  most  interesting  features.     The  study  of    1""t 
the  struggles  of  a  people  to  establish  themselves  upon  an 
independent  industrial  basis,  the  efforts  of  the  infant  state 
to  free  itself  from  the  control  of  other  states,  fill  the  whole 
record  with  the  greatest  interest,    and  especially  as  all 


2  i         Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Purposes  of  the 
American 

colonists. 


Early  con- 
ditions. 


such  efforts  and  struggles  can  be  located  and  brought,  as 
it  were,  to  the  family  interest  which  surrounds  the  growth 
of  our  own  people. 

The  American  colonists  were  content  to  win  from  na- 
ture the  things  essential  to  a  fairly  comfortable  existence. 
They  came  here  that  they  might  pursue  their  ways  in 
accordance  with  their  own  likes.  Whatever  their  mo- 
tives in  crossing  the  stormy  western  ocean,  they  knew 
well  that  they  must  win  their  way  in  all  material  things 
and  must  establish  their  own  freedom  in  industrial  mat- 
ters. They  were  without  capital  and  could  pursue  their 
simple  industries  only  as  individuals.  The  factory  sys- 
tem had  no  place  in  the  world  then.  They  very  natur- 
ally followed  the  conditions  and  circumstances  of  the 
home  country,  and  their  necessities  resulted  in  the  imme- 
diate introduction  of  industries  which  have  flourished  and 
made  our  country  great.  Their  ambition  at  first  was  to 
be  a  prosperous  agricultural  people,  as  the  old  country 
intended  them  to  be,  yet  they  were  obliged  to  carry 
along  with  agricultural  pursuits  mechanical  work,  that 
they  might  be  housed  and  clothed. 

The  industries  of  the  world  were  conducted  under  the 
domestic  system  of  labor  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  hand, 
supplemented  with  crude  tools  and  machines,  was  used 
in  the  production  of  goods  everywhere.  They  had  at 
their  command  all  the  methods  which  the  mother- 
country  could  command  for  producing  goods  ;  at  least, 
they  brought  with  them  the  knowledge  of  handicrafts 
which  enabled  them  to  command  the  methods  in  exist- 
ence. They  found  here  the  forests,  which  had  no 
counterpart  in  the  country  from  which  they  came,  and 
they  saw  at  once  the  opportunities  for  building  their 
own  little  vessels  and  the  prospect  of  shipping  to  the 
mother-country  some  of  the  products  of  the  forests  ;  and 


The  Inception  of  Industries.  25 

while  they  had  been  led  to  believe  that  they  would  find 
on  the  American  coast  large  deposits  of  mineral  wealth 
which  would  reward  their  labors,  they  were  soon  obliged 
to  turn  their  attention  in  other  directions.  The  London 
Company,  which  in  1607  planted  the  first  colony  at 
Jamestown,  had  stimulated  the  hopes  of  the  discovery  of 
gold.  They  must  have  from  the  very  first,  however,  had 
in  mind  the  development,  or  the  establishment  at  least, 
of  manufactures.  From  Stith's  "  History  of  Virginia"* 
it  is  learned  that  Captain  Newport,  in  his  second  voyage, 
which  took  place  late  in  1608,  brought  with  him  work-  1608. 
men  for  the  purpose  of  making  pitch,  glass,  tar,  soap- 
ashes,  etc.,  which,  the  historian  observes,  had  the  country 
been  peopled  would  have  done  well,  but  which  proved 
only  a  burden  and  a  hindrance  to  those  not  so  engaged,  workmen 
He  says  that  ' '  no  sooner  were  they  landed,  but  the  pres- 
ident dispersed  as  many  as  were  able,  some  to  make  glass, 
and  others  for  pitch,  tar,  and  soap-ashes.  Leaving  them 
at  the  fort  under  the  council's  care  and  oversight,  he 
himself  carried  thirty  about  five  miles  down  the  river,  to 
learn  to  cut  down  trees,  make  clapboards,  and  lie  in  the 
woods."  The  council  in  London  made  serious  complaint 
that  gold  and  silver  were  not  forthcoming,  and  made  some 
threats  of  desertion  if  the  expenses  of  the  expedition  were 
not  defrayed  by  the  ship's  return.  Captain  John  Smith 
sent  an  answer  by  the  ship,  which  was  dispatched  with 
the  results  of  the  pitch,  glass,  and  soap-ash  experiments 
and  with  what  wainscot  and  clapboards  could  be  pro- 
vided. So  this  little  cargo  was,  historically,  the  first  ex-  First  exports, 
port  which  the  colonies  undertook,  with  the  exception  of 
a  load  of  sassafras  gathered  near  Cape  Cod  in  1608.  This 
cargo  from  Virginia  was  almost  exclusively  of  manufac- 
tured articles.      Many  of  the  experiments  proved  unsuc- 

*  London,  1753. 


26        Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


1617. 

1  >ecay  of  early 
works. 

Cultivation  of 
tobacco. 


Cordage. 


Salt  works. 


cessful,  yet  during  their  leisure  time,  as  the  historian 
states  it,  the  Virginia  colonists  made  clapboards  and 
wainscot.  Hemp,  flax,  and  silk  grass  grew  naturally, 
and  some  iron  ore  was  sent  to  England  and  found  to 
yield  as  good  iron  as  any  from  other  parts  of  the  world. 

By  161 7  what  works  and  buildings  had  been  con- 
structed at  Jamestown  had  fallen  to  decay,  the  prospects 
of  the  country  declining  rapidly.  The  people  had  turned 
their  attention  from  primitive  manufacture  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  tobacco  plant.  May  17,  1620,  the  company 
in  London  had  a  meeting,  to  which  report  was  made  of 
this  attention  of  the  colonists  to  tobacco-growing,  and  at 
which  Sir  Edwin  Sandys,  who  had  been  treasurer  of  the 
company,  made  a  statement  that  he  had  endeavored  to 
turn  the  colonists  from  the  cultivation  of  tobacco  to  the 
production  of  necessary  commodities.  He  informed  the 
company  that  for  this  purpose  one  hundred  and  fifty  per- 
sons had  been  sent  to  set  up  three  iron  works  ;  that 
directions  had  been  given  for  making  cordage,  as 
hemp,  flax,  and  more  especially  silk  grass,  grew  in 
the  colonies  in  great  abundance,  and  were  found  upon 
experiment  to  make  the  best  cordage  and  line  that 
was  manufactured.  Each  family  was  ordered  to  set  one 
hundred  plants  of  it,  and  the  governor  himself  set  five 
thousand.  The  colonists  had  also  been  advised  to  make 
pitch,  tar,  pot  and  soap-ashes,  and  timber  for  shipping, 
masts,  planks,  boards,  etc.,  for  which  purpose  men  and 
materials  had  been  sent  over  for  erecting  sawmills,  al- 
though no  sawmill  was  erected  for  many  years.  Salt 
works,  which  had  originally  been  started,  were  restored, 
and  the  colony  was  generally  imbued  with  new  hopes  of 
plenty,  not  only  to  serve  the  people  with  salt,  but  to 
supply  the  fisheries  on  the  American  coast. 

It  is  evident  that  sufficient  provision  had  been  made 


The  Inception  of  Industries.  27 

for  the  planting  of  the  principal  useful  arts  in  Virginia, 

for  amon^  the  list  of  tradesmen  who  had  settled  there  Useful  arts  in 

0  Virginia. 

may  be  named  husbandmen,  gardeners,  brewers,  bakers, 
sawyers,  carpenters,  joiners,  shipwrights,  boatwrights, 
ploughwrights,  millwrights,  masons,  turners,  smiths  of 
all  sorts,  coopers,  weavers,  tanners,  potters,  fowlers, 
fishhook-makers,  net-makers,  shoemakers,  rope-makers, 
brickmakers,  bricklayers,  dressers  of  hemp  and  flax,  tile- 
makers,  edge-tool-makers,  leather-dressers,  men  skilful 
in  vines  and  in  iron  works  and  mining.  As  stated  in  an 
old  chronicle,*  "the  men  sent  have  been,  most  of  them, 
choice  men,  born  and  bred  up  to  labor  and  industry  ;  out 
of  Devonshire  about  one  hundred  men  brought  up  to 
husbandry  ;  out  of  Warwickshire  and  Staffordshire  above 
one  hundred  and  ten  ;  and  out  of  Sussex  about  forty,  all 
framed  to  iron  works,  etc."  This  chronicle  also  says 
that  "  cotton-wooll  and  sugar  canes,  all  of  which  may 
there  also  be  had  in  abundance,  with  an  infinity  of  other- 
more,"  were  among  the  natural  resources  of  the  Virginia 
soil. 

Many  attempts  were  made  to  divert  the  colonists  from    Attempts  to 
the  production  of  tobacco  and  to  establish  in  place  of  it    ^licrafts 
the  work  of  handicraftsmen.     These  will  be  dealt  with  in 
a  few  illustrations.     Their  history  is  full  of  romantic  in- 
terest, illustrating  the  wants  of  the  colonists  and  their 
heroic  efforts  to  supply  them. 

The  Virginia  colonists  were  planters  by  nature  and  by 
training  more  than  they  were  manufacturers,  and  they  Planters  in 
started  in  the  world  with  the  idea  that  planting  and  agri- 
culture generally  were  far  more  respectable  than  commer- 
cial and  manufacturing  pursuits.  As  they  grew  they  left 
their  carrying  trade  to  the  seamen  of  the  northern  col- 
onies, and  while  they  had  the  raw  material  for  many 

•"A  Declaration  of  the  State  of  Virginia,"  1620;  Force's  collection. 


28        Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Settlement  at 

Plymouth. 


Early  exports 
from  Plymouth. 


Shipbuilding. 


manufactures  they  were  quite  content  to  raise  the  material 
and  let  others  work  it  into  completed  products.  So  the 
Virginia  colonists  rested  dependent  upon  England  for 
clothing,  exchanging  their  increased  staple,  tobacco,  for 
it  and  for  such  other  necessaries  as  they  found  essential. 

In  December,  1620,  another  lot  of  colonists  settled  at 
Plymouth,  where  they  found  a  sterile  soil  and  very  rug- 
ged climate,  but  from  their  way  of  living  they  early 
became  interested  in  manufacturing  and  commercial  en- 
terprises. Like  their  neighbors  in  Virginia,  they  were 
obliged  to  turn  their  attention  first  to  the  cultivation  of 
the  soil  for  the  supplying  of  the  means  of  subsistence,  but 
they,  too,  found  timber  in  great  abundance,  and  the  con- 
verting it  into  marketable  products  offered  resources  for 
trade  with  the  home  country,  especially  as  England's 
timber  supply  had  been  greatly  wasted  in  the  conduct  of 
her  iron  works.  This  waste  had  been  so  wanton  that 
means  were  taken  as  early  as  1581  to  restrain  it.  Thus 
the  colonists  at  Plymouth  and  the  others  which  settled  in 
that  vicinity  became  exporters  of  the  products  of  forest 
industries. 

The  Anne  was  loaded  at  Plymouth  on  the  tenth  of 
September,  1623,  with  a  cargo  of  clapboards  and  re- 
turned to  England.  The  Anne  was  a  small  ship  of  one 
hundred  and  forty  tons.*  With  her  cargo  there  were 
beaver  skins  and  other  furs.  So  the  two  colonies  imme- 
diately after  their  settlement  were  enabled  to  send  the 
products  of  their  own  industry  to  England. 

The  northern  colony  naturally  took  to  shipbuilding  ; 
first,  because  of  the  necessity  of  making  small  boats  and 
vessels  for  their  coasting,   and,   secondly,   because  they 

*  Tons  Burden. — The  tonnage  or  carrying  capacity  of  a  vessel ;  the  quan- 
tity or  number  of  tons  of  freight  a  vessel  will  carry:  as,  a  vessel  of  three 
hundred  tons  burden.  The  internal  cubic  capacity  of  a  vessel  expressed  in 
t"iis,  now  reckoned  at  one  hundred  cubic  feet  eac  h. 


The  Inception  of  Industries.  29 

found  the  means  ready  at  hand  from  which  vessels  could 

be  constructed.     The  first  vessel,   barring  some  small   First  vessel. 

open  boats  built  by  De  Soto's  men,  ever  constructed  in 

this  country  by  Europeans  was  a  Dutch  vessel  named  the 

Onrest,  a  vessel  of  sixteen  tons  burden.     This  vessel  was 

built  by  Captain  Adriaen  Block,  at  Manhattan  River,  in 

161 4,  and  its  building  was  necessitated  by  the  destruction 

by  fire  of  one  of  four  vessels  which  arrived  in  that  year 

from  Amsterdam.     It  was  in  this  little  vessel,  the  Onrest, 

or  the  Restless,  that  Captain  Hendrickson  discovered  the 

Schuylkill  River  in   August,    1616.      He  also  explored 

nearly  the  whole  coast  from  Nova  Scotia  to  the  capes  of 

Virginia.      Mr.    Bishop,    in    his    excellent    "History    of 

American  Manufactures,"  relates  that  during  the  same 

year  (1614)  in  which  the  Restless  was  built,  Captain  John 

Smith  sailed  for  "North  Virginia"  with  two  ships  and 

forty-five  men  and  boys,  to  make  experiments  upon  a 

gold  and  copper  mine.      Coasting  along  Maine  in  April, 

they  made  some  attempts  at  whaling,  but  failing  in  that, 

they  built  seven  boats,  in  which  thirty-seven  men  made  a 

very  successful  fishing  voyage.     So   the   first   attempt,    Pirst  attempt 

humble  though  it  was,   at  the  fishing  business  in  this      

country  was  made  in  American  bottoms. 

Within  four  years  after  the  landing  the  Plymouth  col- 
ony was  joined  by  a  carpenter  and  a  salt-maker.  These  Plymouth!"5  at 
men  were  sent  out  by  the  company  in  London.  This 
was  in  1624.  This  carpenter  built  two  shallops  and  a 
lighter,  and  the  salt-maker  selected  a  site  and  erected 
a  building  and  made  an  attempt  to  manufacture  salt 
for  the  fishery,  first  at  Cape  Ann,  and  the  next  year 
at  Cape  Cod,  but  his  attempts  were  unsuccessful.  In 
1627  the  Plymouth  folks  built  a  pinnace  at  Monamct, 
now  Sandwich,  Mass.  This  was  used  for  fishing,  but 
it  was  not  till    1641    that    the   first   vessel   of  any   size 


30       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


Shipbuilding  by 
Massachusetts 

colony. 


Indian  canoes. 


Shipbuilding  at 

Med  lord  and 
Marblehead. 


At  Salem 


At  Boston. 


was  constructed,  which  was  a  bark  of  fifty  tons  burden. 
The  first  vessel  built  by  the  Massachusetts  colony  was 
The  Blessing  of  the  Bay,  built  at  Mystic,  now  Medford, 
Mass.,  and  launched  on  the  4th  of  July,  1631.  Thi9 
vessel  belonged  to  Governor  Winthrop.  It  made  several 
coasting  trips,  and  it  is  related  that  upon  one  occasion, 
while  passing  Long  Island,  the  sailors  were  greatly  sur- 
prised at  seeing  Indian  canoes  of  considerable  size,  some 
of  which  were  capable  of  carrying  eighty  persons.  There 
was  another  vessel  built  at  Medford  in  1633,  named  the 
Rebecca,  which  was  of  sixty  tons  ;  and  another  ship  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  tons  was  built  at  Marblehead 
by  Salem  people  in  1636.  At  this  time,  on  account  of 
the  peculiar  state  of  affairs,  the  colonists  were  thrown 
upon  their  own  efforts  to  secure  a  large  proportion  of  the 
necessaries  of  life.  The  emigrant  ships  which  had  come 
from  the  home  country,  and  which  had  constantly  added 
to  the  numbers  of  the  colonists,  had  supplied  them  with 
most  of  their  provisions,  other  than  corn  and  fish.  The 
civil  wars  in  England  interrupted  and  practically  sus- 
pended this  supply  ;  so  the  colonists  were  obliged  to  re- 
sort to  their  own  resources,  as  navigation  had  become 
precarious.  As  Governor  Winthrop  states  in  his  journal, 
' '  the  general  fear  of  want  of  foreign  commodities,  now 
our  money  was  gone,  and  that  things  were  like  to  go 
well  in  England,  set  us  on  work  to  provide  shipping  of 
our  own  ;  for  which  end  Mr.  Peter,  being  a  man  of  very 
public  spirit  and  singular  activity  for  all  occasions,  pro- 
cured some  to  join  for  building  a  ship  at  Salem  of  three 
hundred  tons,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Boston  stirred  up 
by  his  example,  set  upon  the  building  another  at  Boston 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  tons.  The  work  was  hard  to 
accomplish  for  want  of  money,  etc.  ;  but  our  shipwrights 
were  content  to  take  such  pay  as   the   county   could 


The  Inception  of  Industries. 


3i 


make."        Corn    was    made   a   legal    tender    for   debt. 

Vessels  were  built  during  the  following  years,  notably  v  x  .... 
in  1642,  when  five  vessels  of  a  considerable  size  were  l642- 
built  at  Boston,  Plymouth,  Dorchester,  and  Salem  ;  and 
in  1644,  when  some  as  large  as  two  hundred  and  fifty 
tons  were  built  at  Cambridge.  One  of  these  took  out 
a  cargo  of  pipe-staves,  fish,  etc.,  to  the  Canary  Islands. 
Quite  a  large  vessel,  three  hundred  tons  burden,  was 
built  in  1646  at  Boston. 

By  order  of  the  court,  on  account  of  the  rapid  devel- 
opment of  shipbuilding,  which  the  court  states  was  a 


Marquette  Descending  the  Mississippi. 

business  of  great  importance  for  the  common  good,  and 
following,  as  it  asserts,  the  commendable  course  of  Eng- 
land and  other  places,  surveyors  were  ordered  to  be  ap-  Surveyorsof 
pointed  to  examine  the  ships  to  see  if  the  work  had  been 
performed  and  carried  on  according  to  the  rules  of  the 
art  of  shipbuilding.      This  was  in  October,   1641. 

Shipbuilders  were  incorporated  and  the  business  flour- 
ished, for  it  appears  that  as  early  as  [665  Massachusetts 


ships. 


32         Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Incorporation 
of  shipbuilders. 


Ships  built  in 
Massachusetts. 


had  about  80  vessels  of  from  20  to  40  tons,  about  40  from 
40  to  100  tons,  and  about  a  dozen  ships  above  100  tons, 
making  in  all  over  130  sail.  The  business  was  regulated 
bylaw  and  at  the  same  time  encouraged.  The  evidence 
of  the  prosecution  of  the  shipbuilding  business  was  all 
along  the  coast — at  Salem,  at  Newburyport,  New  Bed- 
ford, Salisbury,  everywhere  where  harbors,  opportunity, 
and  supplies  were  convenient.  These  statements  are  true 
of  the  district  of  Maine,  which  was  then  and  for  a  long 
time  a  part  of  Massachusetts,  whose  coves,  bays,  and 
streams  near  the  seaboard  and  whose  great  supply  of 
timber  made  shipbuilding  the  attractive  industry. 

A  century  before  the  Declaration  of  Independence  the 
number  of  ships  which  had  been  built  along  the  Massa- 
chusetts coast  and  belonging  to  the  people  settled  there 
numbered  thirty  vessels  between  100  and  250  tons,  400 
of  from  30  to  100  tons,  and  300  between  6  and  ro  tons. 


The  "  Half-Moon  "  on  the  Hudson. 


CHAPTER  II. 

shipbuilding  {Concluded). 

Connecticut  started  her  shipbuilding  interest  as  early 
as  1640,  when  the  General  Court  of  that  colony  declared  shipbuilding  in 
that  it  was  necessary  for  the  comfortable  support  of  the  Connect1' IU- 
plantations  that  a  trade  in  cotton-wool  be  set  upon  and 
attempted.  The  governor  of  the  plantations,  Edward 
Hopkins,  undertook  the  finishing  and  setting  forth  of  a 
vessel  to  those  parts  where  cotton-wool  was  to  1  >e  <  detained. 
The  first  cruiser  employed  by  American  colonists  was 
built  in  1646,  or  a  little  after,  by  the  New  Haven  and 
Hartford  colonies,  to  cruise  in  Long  Island  Sound  for 
the  purpose  of  preventing  encroachments  by  the  Dutch. 
This  vessel  carried  ten  guns  and  forty  men.  Shipbuild- 
ing flourished  in  Connecticut,  the  leading  place  for  such 
enterprise  being  at  New  London,  on  the  Thames.  The 
first  actual  merchant  vessel  was  built  there  by  merchants 
of  New  London  and  Newport,  which  cost,  exclusive 
of  iron  work,  etc.,  ,£200,  and  many  vessels  of  various 
sizes,  but  all  small,  were  built  for  voyages  to  the 
West  Indies,  to  Newfoundland,  and  even  to  Europe. 
The  barks  of  that  day  were  small  vessels,  tin-  name  be- 
ing applied  to  anything  that  was  larger  than  an  ordinary 
boat.  The  pinnaces  and  shallops  were  deck  boats  of  Pinnaces  and 
perhaps  twenty  tons.  The  largest  vessel  built  at  New 
London  was  named  New  London.  It  was  called  a  ship, 
was  of  seventy  tons  burden,  and  was  the  largest  vessel 
that  had  been  built  up  to  that  time,  1666.    Whale-fishing 

33 


34        Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


The  American 
Turtle. 


in  boats  along  the  coast  had  been  pursued  by  the  col- 
onists, and  of  course  the  boats  for  this  industry  were  in 
demand.  Besides  New  London,  Essex,  in  Saybrook 
township,  started  the  shipbuilding  industry,  and  small 
vessels  were  also  built  at  Sea-Brook,  Killingsworth,  and 
New  Haven. 

A  very  interesting  story  is  told  of  an  invention  which 
was  made  in  colonial  days,  and  while  it  does  not  par- 
ticularly belong  to  the  development  of  industry  in 
general,  it  nevertheless  has  a  bearing  on  the  early  appli- 
cation of  the  inventive  genius  of  this  country.  The 
story  may  be  found  in  the  "Transactions"  of  the 
American  Philosophical  Society,  and  in  Silliman's 
Journal  for  1820.  It  relates  to  a  submarine  vessel  con- 
trived by  David  Bushnell,  of  Saybrook,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  blowing  up  the  enemy's  ships.  Skilful  mechan- 
ics had  previously  made  inventions  of  submarine  boats, 
but  Bushnell's  invention  was  different  from  any  previous 
attempt.  His  design  was  perfected  while  he  was  a 
student  of  Yale  College,  and  he  carried  out  his  plans 
in  1775,  after  his  graduation.  Silliman's  Journal  de- 
scribes Bushnell's  invention  as  "a  machine  for  sub- 
marine navigation,  altogether  different  from  anything 
hitherto  devised  by  the  art  of  man.  This  machine 
was  so  constructed  that  it  could  be  rowed  horizontally 
at  any  given  depth  under  water,  and  could  be  raised 
or  depressed  at  pleasure.  To  this  machine,  called  the 
American  Turtle  (from  its  resemblance  to  two  upper 
tortoise  shells  placed  in  contact),  was  attached  a  maga- 
zine of  powder,  which  was  intended  to  be  fastened  under 
the  bottom  of  a  ship,  with  a  driving  screw,  in  such  a  way 
that  the  same  stroke  which  disengaged  it  from  the  ma- 
chine, should  put  the  internal  clock-work  in  motion.  This 
being  done,  the  ordinary  operation  of  a  gunlock  at  the 


Shipbuilding.  35 


distance  of  half  an  hour,  or  any  determinate  time,  would 
cause  the  powder  to  explode,  and  leave  the  effects  to  the 
common  laws  of  nature."  It  was  this  same  Bushnell 
who  sent  a  fleet  of  kegs  down  the  Delaware  to  destroy 
British  ships,  which  incident  furnished  the  origin  of  the 
humorous  song  well  known  as  "The  Battle  of  the  Kegs." 

The  Connecticut  shipbuilding  industry  was  carried  on 
with  considerable  energy  until  the  War  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, when  it  declined,  increasing  up  to  that  time,  as  it 
did  in  other  states. 

Rhode    Island    began    the    shipbuilding   industry    in   shipbuilding  in 
1646,  Narragansett  Bay  furnishing  convenient  places  for      10  e  su" ' 
the  construction  of  vessels,   Newport,  Bristol,  Warren, 
Providence,  and  places  on  the  Providence  and  Taunton 
Rivers  flourishing  in  consequence. 

New  Hampshire  took  part  in  the  industry,  the  build-   [„  xew 
ing  of  ships  having  been  a  prominent  branch  of  business      amps  ire' 
from  the  very  first  settlement  of  the  province. 

The  Restless,  built  by  Adriaen  Block  in  1614,  has 
already  been  referred  to,  and  was  probably  the  first 
vessel  built  with  a  deck  ever  constructed  in  this  country 
by  Europeans.  From  this  the  student  of  the  develop- 
ment of  industry  would  naturally  expect  to  find  New 
York  in  later  years  the  leading  shipbuilding  port,  espe-  In  I*ew*  /oik- 
daily  as  the  colony  was  settled  under  the  auspices  of 
Amsterdam,  the  mercantile  metropolis  of  Europe ;  that 
it  was  not  so  was  probably  owing  to  the  administration 
of  the  home  company,  which  stood  in  the  way  of  taking 
advantage  of  the  many  facilities  lor  shipbuilding.  The 
Knickerbockers,  who  came  after  the  I  hitch  adventurers, 
did  build,  however,  many  small  vessels,  sloops,  etc.,  for 
the  prosecution  of  the  Indian  trade.  These  vessels  were 
used  in  the  sounds  and  rivers  of  the  colony  and  in  the 
bays  along  the  coast  ;  but  the  restrictions  which  existed 


36         Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


Number  of 
vessels  in  1683. 


Extension  of 
shipbuilding  in 
New  York. 


War  vessels. 


delayed  the  opening  of  the  shipbuilding  industry,  and  as 
late  as  1652  New  Netherlands  had  but  one  small  wharf. 
The  accounts  of  the  early  shipbuilding  there  are  very 
meager,  and  while  the  shipping  interest,  after  restrictions 
were  removed  or  modified,  grew  to  extensive  propor- 
tions, just  how  much  of  it  was  the  result  of  home  indus- 
try cannot  be  clearly  stated  ;  but  in  1683  there  were  three 
barks,  three  brigantines,  twenty-six  sloops,  and  forty-six 
open  boats  enrolled  by  name,  and  in  1686,  according  to 
an  official  report  of  the  governor,  there  were  then  be- 
longing to  the  province  nine  or  ten  three-mast  vessels  of 
about  eighty  or  one  hundred  tons  burden,  two  or  three 
ketches,  a  bark  of  about  forty  tons,  and  about  twenty 
smaller  vessels  of  twenty  to  twenty-five  tons  each.  These, 
except  the  sloops,  traded  with  England,  Holland,  and 
the  West  Indies,  a  large  proportion  of  which  trade  was 
conducted  in  vessels  built  in  the  colony. 

Near  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  shipping 
of  New  York  had  grown  to  considerable  proportions, 
the  colony  possessing  forty  square-rigged  vessels,  sixty- 
two  sloops,  and  sixty  boats.  These  vessels,  with  a  pop- 
ulation not  exceeding  6,000,  show  that  the  builders  of 
New  York  were  alive  to  their  advantages,  and  at  the 
time  of  the  Revolution  Poughkeepsie  and  Albany  had 
become  prominent  in  shipbuilding  ;  and  when  thirteen 
vessels  of  the  frigate  class  were  ordered  by  Congress  in 
December,  1775,  the  Congress,  of  twenty-eight,  and  the 
Montgomery,  of  twenty-four  guns,  were  ordered  to  be 
built  at  Poughkeepsie.  Many  of  the  vessels  built  at  the 
port  of  New  York  were  of  large  size. 

Space  will  not  admit  of  mention  of  the  shipbuilding 
industry  on  the  western  lakes,  but  the  development  of 
interests  necessitated  the  construction  of  vessels  of  vari- 
ous size  to  navieate  those  waters.     The  first  mention  of 


SJriphuilding. 


37 


any  vessel  built  on  interior  waters,  although  there  may- 
have  been  some  account  prior  to  this,  is  that  of  a  small 
vessel  of  sixty  tons,  whose  keel  was  laid  on  the  26th 
of  January,    1679,   at  the  mouth  of  Cayuga  Creek,   on  shipbuilding  on 

J  .  .  .  .  .  the  lakes. 

the  American  side  of  the  Niagara,  and  six  miles  above 


Fulton's  "Clkrmont,"  1807. 

the  falls.  It  was  at  this  place  that  the  adventurers  who 
accompanied  Fathers  Tonti  and  Hennepin,  under  Sieur 
de  la  Salle,  finished  and  equipped  with  seven  small  can- 
non and  the  usual  armament  of  a  man-of-war  the  first 
vessel  that  ever  set  sail  upon  Lake  Erie.  The  name 
given  this  vessel  was  the  Griffin.  A  schooner  of  forty 
feet  keel  was  launched  June  28,  1755,  on  Lake  Ontario, 

and  was  the  first  English  vessel  built  on  that  lake,  while    First  English 
1       1-  a  11-11  1 1       1-      11       vessel  on  Un- 

tile first  American  vessel  built  thereon  was  at  riantord  s   Great  Lakes. 

Landing,  in  1798.     The    Washington  was  built  at  Four 

Mile  Creek,  near  Erie,  Pa.,  on  Lake  Erie,  in  1797,  and 
was  the  first  national  vessel  ever  built  on  that  lake. 
During  the  Revolution  many  vessels  of  different  sizes 


38         I  mill  sir  id  I  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


In  New  Jersey. 


In  Penn- 
sylvania. 


Philadelphia's 
prominence  in 
naval  architec- 
ture. 


were  built  on  the  lakes,  and  prior  thereto,  as  different 
expeditions  made  it  necessary,  vessels  had  been  con- 
structed for  the  navigation  of  the  lakes. 

New  Jersey  began  the  building  of  ships  as  early  as 
1683,  the  industry  being  carried  on  at  Salem  and  Bur- 
lington largely,  although  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  ves- 
sels had  been  built  on  the  Delaware  prior  to  that  time. 
It  was  a  principal  occupation  at  Little  Egg  Harbor,  in 
Burlington  County.  The  Governor  Livingston,  a  fine 
schooner,  was  fitted  out  as  a  letter  of  marque  in  1779 
and  1780. 

Pennsylvania  established  the  shipbuilding  industry  at 
a  very  early  period,  and  some  vessels  were  built  at  Phil- 
adelphia in  1683,  the  year  after  the  arrival  of  William 
Perm.  A  shipyard  was  commenced  at  the  foot  of  Vine 
Street  soon  after.  Six  years  after  the  founding  of  Phil- 
adelphia she  freighted  ten  vessels  with  provincial  prod- 
ucts for  the  West  Indies  ;  yet,  as  time  went  on,  the 
industry  did  not  flourish  as  it  did  in  some  of  the  more 

northern  parts, 
and  during  the 
year  just  prior  to 
the  Revolution  but 
few  vessels  were 
built  there.  At  the 
time  of  the  Revo- 
lution Philadelphia 
had  become  the 
first  in  naval  archi- 
tecture, however,  and  the  city  originated  huge  raft-ships. 
They  were  immense  structures,  designed  for  carrying 
gnat  quantities  of  timber,  to  be  broken  up  at  the  close 
of  the  voyage.  Of  the  thirteen  frigates  ordered  by  Con- 
gress in  1775,  the   Washington  and  Randolph,  of  thirty- 


p.ell's  Steamboat,  "  G 


Shipbuilding.  39 


two  guns  each,  the  Effingham,  of  twenty-eight,  and  the 
Delaware,  of  twenty-four  guns,  were  built  at  Philadel- 
phia. The  keels  of  other  war  vessels  were  laid  at  Phil- 
adelphia, and  many  smaller  vessels  built  and  equipped. 
The  development  of  shipbuilding  through  invention  has 
rested  very  largely  upon  the  inventive  genius  of  residents 
of  Philadelphia.  These  matters  belong  to  a  later  date, 
however,  than  colonial  days. 

The  state  of  Delaware  early  saw  the  establishment  of  In  Delaware. 
shipbuilding.  This  occurred  especially  in  the  locality  of 
the  present  city  of  Wilmington.  Certain  it  is  that  as 
early  as  1642  shipbuilding,  boatbuilding,  and  cooper 
work  were  carried  on  upon  Cooper's  Island,  but  the 
first  vessel  for  foreign  trade,  which  was  a  brig  named 
the  Wilmington,  was  built  in  1740.  The  industry 
was  also  carried  on  at  New  Castle  as  early  as  the 
time  of  the  settlement  by  Penn.  The  General  Wash- 
ington, a  fine  ship  of  250  tons,  was  launched  from  the 
shipyard  of  William  Woodcock,  in  Wilmington,  in  1790. 
Wilmington  has  acquired  a  wide  reputation  in  ship- 
building, all  classes  of  vessels  being  built  there. 

There  are  but  few  particulars  of  shipbuilding  in  the  I/Middleand 
middle  and  southern  colonies,   the  result,  probably,   of  |°"tl^ern 
the  tendency  to  agricultural  pursuits  rather  than  to  com- 
merce  and   manufactures  ;    but   after  the  earlier  years 
Maryland  improved  her  facilities  for  shipbuilding.     They   in  Maryland, 
were  unsurpassed  by  those  of  any  other  province.     The 
business  progressed  rapidly,  and  Maryland  built  as  early 
as  1769  twenty  vessels,  with  an  aggregate  of  1,344  tons- 
Only   small    craft   had  been   built   prior   to   this   time. 
In  1772  eight  vessels  were  built  in  Maryland,  a  number 
equal  to  that  built  in  Pennsylvania  at  the  same  time. 
During  the  War  of  the   Revolution,   Maryland  was   ex- 
ceedingly active  in  fitting  out  cruisers,  and  one  of  the 


40        Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Shipbuilding 
materials. 


first  frigates  ordered  by  Congress,  the  Virginia,  of 
twenty-eig'ht  tons,  was  built  by  the  Maryland  ship- 
builders. Others  were  ordered  there  in  later  years, 
while  the  old  Constellation  was  built  at  Baltimore  for  the 
federal  government. 

The  shipbuilding  industry  of  Virginia  has  already 
been  noticed  in  slight  degree,  a  few  barks,  pinnaces,  etc. , 
having  been  built  there  prior  to  1621.  The  business, 
however,  did  not  make  much  progress,  probably  the 
ordinances   in    prohibition  of  commerce,  under  acts  of 

Parliament, 
having  much  to 
do  with  the  slow 
progress  made 
there.  Never- 
theless, the  Vir- 
ginians turned 
some  of  their 
attention  from 
the  soil  to  com- 
merce, for  it  is 
recorded  that  in 
1769  she  pro- 
duced twenty- 
seven  sail  of  new  vessels,  while  the  Continental  Congress 
ordered  two  frigates,  of  thirty-six  guns  each,  to  be  built 
in  Virginia,  and  the  old  frigate  Chesapeake  was  laid  at 
Portsmouth. 

About  the  close  of  the  last  century  shipbuilding  had 
increased  considerably  in  the  southern  colonies,  and  so 
much  so  that  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  North  Carolina 
each  surpassed  New  Hampshire,  while  Virginia  and  Mary- 
land had  more  manufactories  of  cordage  and  cables,  used 
so  largely  in  building  ships,  than  any  two  of  the  states  of 


Old  Ironsides.' 


Shipbuilding.  41 


New  York  and  New  Hampshire,  New  Jersey  and  Con- 
necticut. Georgia  and  the  Carolinas  supplied  most  ex- 
cellent material  for  ships,  which  material  was  used  by 
the  shipbuilders  of  the  Middle  and  Northern  States,  shipbuilding 
The  southern  colonies  had  great  advantages  in  these  j^uthem  '" 
directions.  Cedar,  pine,  live-oak  grew  in  abundance  c 
and  gave  the  very  best  materials  for  serviceable  ships, 
and  in  1 740  the  Carolinas  began  seriously  to  attend  to 
shipbuilding,  five  ships  being  built  in  that  year,  and 
twenty-four  square-rigged  vessels,  besides  sloops  and 
schooners,  were  constructed  between  the  years  1740  and 
1779.  Some  vessels  had  been  built  in  Georgia  as  early 
as  1 741,  and  anew  era  in  shipbuilding,  resulting  from 
the  discovery  of  extensive  supplies  of  live-oak,  began 
in  1750.  When  the  Revolutionary  War  broke  out 
South  Carolina  availed  herself  of  her  ficilities,  as  shown 
in  her  activity  in  fitting  out  cruisers  for  the  defense  of 
American  coasts.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  data 
of  the  shipbuilding  interests  in  the  southern  colonies  are 
not  as  extensive  as  those  for  the  northern  colonies,  but  if 
the  southern  colonies  lacked  in  the  building  of  ships,  they 
certainly  made  up  in  furnishing  the  very  best  material 
for  their  building. 

The  industry  in  the  whole  country  prior  to  the  Revo-  shipbuilding 
lution,  when,  of  course,  shipbuilding  was  suspended  to  a  Revolution, 
large  degree,  except  for  war  purposes,  was  satisfactory 
and  showed  the  enterprise  of  the  colonists.  The  record 
is  a  flattering  one  and  is  a  fitting  statement  with  which 
to  close  this  brief  account  of  the  shipbuilding  of  the 
colonies.  The  account  for  all  the  colonies  for  the  year 
1769,  the  only  year  for  which  a  summary  is  found,  at 
least  just  prior  to  the  Revolution,  shows  that  389  vessels 
had  been  built,  having  an  aggregate  of  20,000  tons 
burden.       Of   these  New   Hampshire  built  45  ;   Massa- 


Ships  built  in 

different 

colonies. 


Sc  ipbuilding 
the  first 
mechanical 
industry. 


42         hidustrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 

chusetts,  137;  Rhode  Island,  39;  Connecticut,  50; 
New  York,  19;  the  Jerseys,  4;  Pennsylvania,  22; 
Maryland,  20;  Virginia,  27;  North  Carolina,  12  ;  South 
Carolina,  12;  Georgia,  2.  The  whole  number  of  ves- 
sels built  in  all  the  colonies  in  the  year  1772  was  182. 
These  figures  show  the  development  when  the  Revolu- 
tion opened. 

While  the  history  of  shipbuilding  during  colonial 
days  would  occupy  chapters,  this  account,  brief  as  it  is, 
has  been  given  much  more  length  than  can  be  devoted 
to  general  industries,  because  it  was  the  first  industry  to 
attract  the  colonists  other  than  the  planting  of  the  soil. 
It  was  the  first  of  the  mechanical  industries  to  which 
they  paid  their  attention  to  any  profitable  degree. 


A  Modern  Atlantic  Liner. 


CHAPTER  III. 

TEXTILE    INDUSTRIES.  * 

It  is  impossible  to  determine  when  the  manufacture  of 
cloth  was  first  undertaken  by  the  colonists.  The  records 
of  shipbuilding  and  other  industries  give  positive  dates 
in  most  instances  ;  but  a  careful  search  of  documents  and 
records  fails  to  disclose  the  time  of  the  earliest  efforts  to 
produce  their  own  clothing.  There  is  no  doubt,  however, 
that  with  the  earliest  ships  that  came  to  the  southern  and 
northern  colonies  there  came  the  spinning-wheel  and  the  Spinning-wheel 
hand-loom,  although  no  mention  is  made  of  their  advent. 
It  is  true,  too,  that  the  colonists  depended  for  some  time 
upon  the  mother-country  for  textiles.  They  soon  learned 
the  way  of  the  savages  and  their  skill  in  utilizing  the  furs 
of  animals,  but  they  could  not  have  entered  to  any  great 
extent  upon  the  spinning  of  yarn  and  the  weaving  of 
cloth. 

The  old  home  of  the  woolen  industry  was  Holland, 
and  England  had  received  her  best  workers  in  wool 
from  that  country  ;  so  the  colonies  had  men  entirely 
familiar  with  weaving.      They  brought  men  to  Virginia  sheep-raising 

&  J  °  °  in  Virgm-a. 

in  1607  who  were  accustomed  to  sheep-raising  and  who 
knew  the  intricacies  of  the  manufacture  of  cloth  from 
wool  fibers.  The  Virginia  colony  was  the  first  to  intro- 
duce sheep,  while  the  Dutch  West  India  Company 
brought  them    to    New  Netherlands  as    early  as    1625. 

*  For  a  detailed  account  of  the  woolen  industry,  see  "  Manufacture  of  Wool," 
by  S.  N.  D.  North,  The  Popular  S,  ieni  e  Monthly,  .Tune,  [891  ;  for  an  account 
of  cotton  and  woolen  manufactures,  see  Bishop's'"'  History  of  American  Manu- 
factures," Vol.  I,  and  "A  National  History  of  American  Manufactures. " 


44        Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


In  Plymouth. 


In  Massachu- 
setts. 


Number  of 
sheep  in  the 
colonies. 


None  were  brought  to  the  Plymouth  colony,  so  far  as 
can  be  learned,  at  as  early  a  date  as  that,  but  the  Massa- 
chusetts colony  imported  them  about  1633,  and  in  order 
to  protect  them  from  wolves  and  Indians  kept  them  on 
an  island  in  Boston  Harbor.  Governor  Winthrop  stated 
that  the  Plymouth  folks  had  about  forty  sheep  brought 
to  them  from  Boston  in  1634.  Strangely  enough,  the 
year  before  they  felt  obliged  to  forbid  the  exportation  of 
sheep  ;  so  they  must  have  had  a  few  at  that  time.  The 
Massachusetts  colony  had  succeeded  in  acquiring  about 
one  thousand  sheep  by  1642.  Dependence  had  before 
that  been  largely  upon  importations  from  Malaga.     The 

flocks  of  sheep  in- 
creased everywhere, 
until,  taking  all  the 
colonies  together,  the 
accounts  show  that  in 
1 66 1  they  had  nearly 
one  hundred  thou- 
sand. It  is  evident, 
therefore,  that  at  this 
time  the  colonists 
were  in  a  position  to 
make  a  very  large 
proportion  of  their 
own  clothing.  The 
raising  of  wool  in- 
creased, and  with  it, 
as  a  natural  result,  the 
manufacture  of  cloth. 
It  is  not  known  how  many  sheep  there  were  in  the 
country  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  constitution, 
but  twenty  years  later  there  were  ten  million. 

The   first   mention  of  the   presence   of  the  spinning- 


The  Spinning-Wheel. 


Tt '.  vtih  •  Li  dustries. 


45 


wheel  and  the  loom  occurs   in  the  records  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts colony,  in  an  inventory  in  16^0,  relating1  to  four   First  mention 

J  ...  "'  spinning- 

yards  of  home-made  cloth,  at  six  shillings  per  yard,  and   wheeiandioom. 

two  spinning-wheels  are  mentioned  in  another  inventory 

in   1638,  the  spinning-wheels  being  set   down  at  three 

shilling's.     The  colonists  of  New  Netherlands  could  not 

make  woolen,  linen,  or  cotton  cloth,  or  weave  any  other 

textiles,  and  this  prohibition  was   under  heavy  penalty, 

any  one  making  such  goods  being  banished  and  arbi- 


l  in    Hand-Loom. 

trarily  punished  as  perjurers.     This  was   the   restriction 
of  the  home  government. 

Governor  Dudley,  of  Massachusetts,  in  writing  home 
in  163 1,  stated  that  clothes  and  bed<  ling  must  be  brought 
to  the  colony  until  the  development  of  industry  enabled 
them  to  be  produced  there  ;  yet  a  year  or  two  later  the 
colonial  people,  from  their  small  clippings,  must  have 
commenced  the  spinning  and  weaving  of  wool,  and  the 


Prohibition  ..f 
cloth-making. 


46  Industrial  Evolution  of  the   I  Tnited  States. 

ten  years  following  saw  emphatic  progress  in  the  efforts 
to  supply  clothing  made  in  the  houses  of  the  colonists. 
Hemp  and  flax  were  produced  in  sufficient  quantities  to 
enable  the  people  to  make  the  clothing  they  absolutely 
needed  ;  nevertheless,  the  fanners  gave  their  preference 
to  foreign  cloth,  which  they  bought  with  their  own  wares. 
Beginning  of       The  domestic  manufacture  of  cloth  was  not  general,  but 

the  liKiim-  t  .  , 

factureof  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  manufacture  of  wool  in   this 

wool.  .  .  . 

country  was  practically  begun  in  the  period  from  1632  to 
1642. 

An  event  occurred  in  1638  which  gave  the  Massachu- 
setts colony  quite  a  start  in  the  woolen  industry.  This 
came  through  the  expulsion  from  Yorkshire,  England,  of 
Pastor  Ezekiel  Rogers  and  his  flock.  These  people  had 
some  capital,  and  on  founding  the  town  of  Rowley  they 
set  up  a  woolen  and  fulling-mill.*  This  little  town  was 
incorporated  in  1639,  and  in  it  the  homespun  industries 
of  America  were  commenced.  Quite  a  number  of  the 
First  fulling-  Rogers  people  were  familiar  with  the  manufacture  of 
woolens,  and  the  fulling-mill  which  they  built  was  the 
first  one  erected  in  the  North  American  colonies.  John 
Pearson  was  the  builder,  and  the  year  was  1643.  This 
little  mill  was  in  operation  as  late  as  1809.  Although 
these  people  came  from  the  woolen  districts  of  England, 
they  used  in  their  homes  flax  and  cotton,  as  well  as  wool. 
Governor  Winthrop,  in  one  of  his  letters,  says  that  Row- 
ley exceeded  all  other  towns,  although  the  manufacture 
of  wool  was  general.  There  is  a  tradition,  amounting  to 
fact  almost,  of  the  erection  of  a  fulling-mill  in  1640  at 
Salem.     The  presence  of  fulling-mills  indicates  that  the 

*  Fulling-mill. — A  power  machine  for  fulling  and  felting  felts  and  woven 
fabrics,  to  improve  their  texture  by  making  them  thicker,  closer,  and  heavier. 
Such  mills  operate  by  means  of  rollers,  stampers,  and  beaters,  of  variour 
forms  and  usually  of  wood,  which  heat,  roll,  and  press  the  fabric  in  hot  sudi 
and  fullers'  earth,  felting  it  together  till  the  required  texture  is  obtained.  An 
unavoidable  result  of  the  process  is  a  reduction  in  length,  in  width,  and,  in  the, 
case  of  hats,  of  size. 


Textile  Industries.  47 


weaving  of  cloths  was  sufficient  not  only  to  clothe  the 
people  in  the  vicinity  but  to  give  a  surplus  for  trade. 

The  Massachusetts  colonists  also  profited  by  the 
troubles  which  existed  in  England  at  this  period,  on  ac- 
count of  which  there  was  a  less  supply  of  cloths  than 
usual  ;  so  the  government  of  the  colony  made  inquiry 
concerning  the  number  of  persons  who  would  buy  sheep 
and  took  means  to  encourage  the  raising  of  flocks. 
Some  tide-mills*  were  erected,  notably  one  at  Guilford, 
Conn.     Another  stimulating  incident  was  the  fact  that   Restrictions  of 

1        -r>  r  English  laws. 

the  English  government  put  an  export  duty  of  three 
shillings  four  pence  on  every  piece  of  woolen  broadcloth 
and  prohibited  the  exportation  of  sheep,  wool,  and 
woolen  yarns  from  England.  This  stringent  legislation 
led  the  Massachusetts  General  Court  in  1656  to  order  the   Necessity  of 

1         r    1  1     •  •  •  home 

people  01  the  towns  to  turn  their  attention  to  spinning  manufactures. 
and  weaving.  Home  manufactures  became  an  absolute  — " 
necessity,  and  the  other  colonies  followed  the  example  of 
Massachusetts,  fulling-mills  being  erected  here  and  their. 
Every  effort  was  made  to  stimulate  the  woolen  industry, 
herdsmen  being  provided  by  law  or  under  town  orders 
and  bounties  given  for  the  destruction  of  wolves.  Later 
on  woolen  manufactories  were  set  up  in  different  places  ; 
so  that  by  the  time  of  the-  adoption  of  the  constitution 
the  northern  colonies  were  producing  considerable  quan- 
tities of  woolen  cloth,  one  establishment  at  Hartford, 
Conn.,  in  the  year  ending  September,  1789,  having  pro- 
duced 5,000  yards  of  cloth,  some  of  which  was  sold  at 

five  dollars   per  yard.       General  Washington  visited   this    Washington's 

.       r  .      .         ,  .  ....  ~  .       visit  to  ' 

particular  factory  during  his  tour  m  the  Eastern  States  in   necticnt. 
1789,  and  he  writes  in  his  diary  that  the  work  seemed  to 
be  going  on  with  spirit,  and  that  while  their  broadcloths 

*  Tide-mill. — A  mill  supplied  with  power  by  means  of  a  water-M  heel  oper- 
ated  by  the  tide,  either  directly  in  flowing  through  a  tideway,  01  indirectly  in 
flowing  out  of  a  tidal  basin. 


48         Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


Woolen  manu- 
facture in 
Virginia. 


In  Penn- 
sylvania. 


Introduction 
of  spinning- 
wheel  irons. 


were  not  of  the  first  quality,  yet  they  were  good.  He  testi- 
fied also  to  the  quality  of  coatings,  cassimeres,  serges, 
and  everlastings,  and  ordered  a  suit  of  broadcloth  to  be 
sent  to  him  at  New  York.  Tradition  gives  it  that  in 
making  his  speech  to  Congress  in  January,  1790,  he 
wore  a  full  suit  of  broadcloth  made  at  the  Hartford  fac- 
tory. Another  cloth-dresser  at  Hartford,  Robert  Pier- 
pont,  in  17S9  finished  on  one  press  over  8,000  yards  of 
cloth. 

Virginia  made  early  attempts  to  stimulate  the  manufac- 
ture of  woolens,  and  as  far  back  as  1662  passed  laws  for 
the  encouragement  of  that  industry.  Her  first  fulling- 
mills,  however,  were  not  erected  until  about  1692.  Gov- 
ernor Andros,  during  his  administration,  made  great 
efforts  to  develop  textile  manufactures,  but  his  successor, 
Governor  Nicholson,  was  opposed  to  such  efforts,  and 
advised  Parliament  to  pass  orders  prohibiting  the  making 
of  cloth  in  the  colonies.  From  this  it  is  deducible  that 
considerable  quantities  of  domestic  cloths  were  manufac- 
tured— enough,  at  least,  to  affect  the  importation  of 
English  goods.  At  this  period  (the  close  of  the  seven- 
teenth century)  the  imports  and  exports  of  Virginia  and 
Maryland  were  greater  than  those  of  all  the  other  colonies 
combined.  Before  the  close  of  the  colonial  period  Vir- 
ginia had  fulling-mills  in  various  localities. 

Pennsylvania  took  action  similar  to  that  of  her  sister 
colonies  to  encourage  the  production  of  woolen  goods. 
That  state  certainly  did  its  share  in  the  early  efforts  of 
the  colonies  to  produce  what  they  might  need  for  their 
own  wear.  There  were  many  fulling-mills  in  the  state  by 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  broadcloths 
were  produced  in  Philadelphia  in  the  latter  half  of  that 
century.  Philadelphia  introduced  the  manufacture  of 
spinning-wheel  irons,   the   production  of  which  at  the 


Textile  Industries.  49 


close  of  the  colonial  period  amounted  to  1,500  sets,  most 
of  them  being  for  use  in  families,  and  not  in  woolen 
establishments.  Lancaster,  Pa.,  had  erected  fulling-mills 
at  a  very  early  date,  and  was  the  largest  inland  town  in 
the  country  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  constitu- 
tion. It  then  had  700  families,  234  of  which  were  man- 
ufacturers, including  many  weavers  of  woolen,  linen,  and 
cotton  cloth. 

New  Jersey,  too,  came  in  for  her  share  in  the  develop- 
ment of  textiles,  but  not  at  so  early  a  date  as  some  of  the  i"  New  jersey, 
others,  of  course.  The  Quakers  who  came  to  Jersey 
from  Yorkshire  and  London,  in  England,  and  who  settled 
at  Salem,  Burlington,  and  other  parts  of  West  Jersey, 
about  the  year  1677,  lost  no  time  in  commencing  the 
manufacture  of  cloth.  A  colony  was  established  on  the 
Delaware,  under  a  charter  from  the  court  of  Sweden, 
granted  in  1640.  By  the  terms  of  this  charter  the 
people  were  permitted  to  engage  in  all  manufactures  and 
in  all  commerce,  domestic  and  foreign,  and  Governor 
Printz,  who  soon  afterward  came  to  the  colony,  was  in- 
structed by  his  government  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  pro- 
mote the  propagation  of  sheep,  with  the  view  of  export- 
ing wool  to  the  home  country.  After  this  Swedish  com- 
pany came  under  the  proprietary  government  of  Penn- 
sylvania, it  is  learned  from  a  letter  to  a  Swedish  official, 
written  in  1693,  that  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the  col- 
onists employed  themselves  in  spinning  wool  and  ilax, 
and  many  of  them  in  weaving.  They  had  a  few  sheep, 
eighty  in  number,  probably  as  early  as  1663,  and  were 
well  supplied  with  wool  at  the  time  of  the  writing  of  the 
letter  just  mentioned. 

Rhode  Island,  the  present  home  of  the  manufacture  of 
some  of  the  best  woolen    cloths  in    the    country,    took   J"1:j^jode 
active  part  in  developing  tin- woolen   trade,  and  South 


In  South 
Carolina. 


50         Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  Stales. 

Carolina,  by  its  first  Provincial  Congress,  was  urged  to 
encourage  manufactures..  Premiums  were  offered  for  the 
making  of  wool-cards*  and  for  woolen  cloth.  A  fulling- 
mill  was  erected  in  that  state  before  1790  for  dressing 
fine  and  coarse  woolens.     This  was  on  Fishing  Creek, 


Arkwright's  Spinning  Machine. 
From  the  original  drawing. 


Premiums 

offered. 


near  the  Catawba  River,  and  the  spinners  and  weavers  of 
the  colony  in  that  vicinity  kept  the  fulling-mill  busy  in 
dyeing,  fulling,  and  pressing,  all  these  processes  being 

*  Wool-card. — A  brush  with  wire  teeth,  used  in  disentangling  fibers  of 
wool  and  laying  them  parallel  to  one  another  preparatory  to  spinning.  In 
hand-cards  the  wires  are  short  and  are  passed  slantingly  through  leather, 
which  is  then  nailed  upon  a  board.  Two  of  these  brushes  are  used,  one  in 
each  hand,  and  in  use  are  drawn  past  each  other,  the  fibers  being  between 
them.  In  the  carding  machine,  which  has  superseded  hand-carding,  the 
cards  are  formed  by  hard-drawn  wire  staples,  each  furnishing  two  teeth, 
drawn  through  leather  and  bent  at  a  certain  angle. 


Textile  Industries.  51 


performed  in  excellent  manner  by  the  settlers  from  Great 
Britain,  who  were  fully  conversant  therewith. 

What  has  been  said  relates  almost  entirely  to  the  start- 
ing  of  the   woolen    industries.        Cotton-spinning   and   Cotton-spinning 

0  .  a1"'  weaving, 

weaving  very  naturally  kept  pace  with  the  manufacture 

of  woolen  cloths.  Cotton  was  an  indigenous  plant  in  the 
southern  portion  of  the  colonies,  and  so  nature  offered 
the  opportunity  for  the  utilization  of  a  fiber  which  con- 
stitutes the  basis  of  the  great  civilizing  cotton  industry. 
It  is  probably  true  that  in  the  older  country  the  use  of  Cotton-raising. 
the  cotton  fiber  antedates  that  of  the  animal  fibers,  and 
especially  is  this  true  of  flax  and  some  of  the  vegetable 
fibers  which  require  treatment  involving  more  intricate 
processes  than  cotton  before  the  finished  cloth  can  be 
produced  ;  but  its  use  was  recognized  at  a  very  early 
date  by  the  colonists,  for  when  the  Pilgrims  were  earnestly 
trying  to  produce  their  first  crops  of  Indian  corn  cotton 
was  being  raised  by  the  colonists  in  Virginia.  Purchas, 
the  historian,  relates  that  in  the  year  1621  cotton  was 
planted  in  this  country. 

The  Massachusetts  colonists  received  their  first  supply 

.  First  supplies 

from  Barbadoes,  in   1633,  and  some  cotton  goods  were  of  cotton. 

made  up  for  home  wear  in  the  New  England  colonies 

as  early   as   1643.     South    Carolina   had   cotton    under 

cultivation  as    early    as   1664,    or  it  may  be   two  years 

later.      If  one   refers   to   a   work   entitled    "Cotton    in 

the    Middle    States,"    published    in     1862    by  Dr.    G. 

Emerson,  of  Philadelphia,  he  will  find  that  long  before 

the   Southern    States   took    up   the   culture   of   cotton    cultivation 

the  plant  was  raised  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland,    MaCry"andand 

in   the  southern  counties  of  Delaware,   and  at  various 

points  in  the  middle  colonies  ;  yet  it  was  regarded  as  an 

ornamental  plant  as  late  as  1736  and  many  years  after, 

and  its  cultivation  was  confined  to  gardens.     According 


l  Delaware. 


52         Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 

to  the  work  just  cited,  many  families   in   Maryland  who 
came   from   Sussex    County,    Delaware,   wore    clothing 
made  of  cotton  of  their  own  raising,  spinning,  and  weav- 
ing.     But  the  culture  of  cotton  in  this  particular  section 
Decrease  of        of    the    colonies    gradually    diminished.       The     Middle 
^Maryland*     States  could  not  compete  with  the  more  Southern  States 
and  Delaware.     m  rajsing  this  staple.      Mr.  Madison,  representing  Vir- 
ginia in  the  convention  which  was  held  in  Annapolis  in 
1786  for  the  purpose  of  taking  under  consideration  the 
means   which   could   be   adopted    for   recuperating   the 
finances  of  the  country,    stated  it  as   his  opinion    that 
' '  from  the  results  of  cotton-raising  in  Talbot  County, 
Maryland,  and  numerous  other  proofs  furnished  in  Vir- 
ginia, there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  United  States 
will  one  day  become  a  great  cotton-producing  country." 
From  these  and  other  facts  which  are  ascertainable,  it 
is  clearly  seen  that  the  cultivation   of  cotton  which  first 

Cotton  cultiva-  .  r    .  .        .  .        .  . 

tion  transferred  drew  the  attention  of  the  colonists  took  place  on  the  pen- 
insula between  the  Delaware  and  Chesapeake  Bays, 
then  crossed  to  western  Maryland,  thence  to  Virginia, 
and  finally  found  its  home  in  the  far  South.  No  exporta- 
tion of  this  great  staple  of  any  consequence  were  made 
until  the  year  of  the  Constitutional  Convention — 1787 — 
when  Charleston,  S.  C. ,  sent  three  hundred  pounds  to 
England.  There  was  no  reason  why  the  cotton  industry 
should  not  have  been  established  in  the  colonies  on  a 
larger  scale  than  it  was  and  at  an  earlier  date,  unless  it  be, 
perhaps,  the  difficulty  which  existed  of  separating  the 
cotton  from  the  seed.  This  process  was  carried  on  both 
by  hand  and  by  rude  machinery — a  difficulty  which  was 
overcome    in    the   opening   years    of  the   constitutional 

Whitney's  saw-   period  by  the  invention  of  the  saw-gin  bv  Whitne  \ 
gin.  f  j  &  J 


CHAPTER  IV. 


textile  industries  {Concluded). 

In  1774-75  Alexander  Hamilton  published  some  pam- 
phlets, in  one  of  which  he  used  the  following  language  : 

With  respect  to  cotton,  you  do  not  pretend  to  deny  that  a 
sufficient  quantity  may  be  produced.     Several  of  the  southern 

colonies  are  so  favorable  to  it  th;it,  with  due  cultivation,  in  a 
couple  of  years  they  would  afford  enough  to  clothe  the  whole 
continent.  As  to  the  expense  of  bringing  it  by  land,  the  best 
way  will  be  to  manufacture  it  where  it  grows,  and  afterwards 
transport  it  to  the  other  colonies.  Upon  this  plan  [apprehend 
the  expense  w<  >uld  n<  it  be  greater  than  to  build  and  equip  large 
ships  to  import  the  manufactures  of  ( livat  Britain  from  thence. 
If  we  were  to  turn  our  attention  from  external  to  internal  com- 
merce, we  would  give  greater  facility  and  more  lasting  pros- 
perity to  our  country  than  she  can  possibly  have  otherwise. 
.  .  .  .  If  by  the  necessity  of  the  thing  manufactures 
should  once  be  established  and  take  root  among  us,  they  will 
pave  the  way  still  more  to  the  future  grandeur  and  glory  of 
America. 

Another  difficulty  which  prevented  the  growth  of  the 
cotton  industry  along  lines  equal  to  the  growth  of  the 
wool  manufacture  resulted  from  the  peculiar  attitude  of 
the  home  country.  Prior  to  the  decade  of  years  begin- 
ning with  1760  the  cotton  cloths  of  England  were  made 
in  the  same  way  that  the  woolen  cloths  were  made — that 
is,  by  hand  machinery.  The  colonists  used  the  same 
methods,  and  thus  produced  coarse  grades  of  cotton 
cloths. 

53 


Hamilton's 
\  iews  of  cotton 
manufacture. 


Methods  in  use 
b\  colonists. 


54        industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  Slates. 


Invention  of 
cotton 

machinery  in 
England. 


During  the  decade  of  years  from  1760  to  1770  the 
inventive  genius  of  England  brought  out  the  wonderful 
series  of  spinning  and  weaving  machines  which  revolu- 
tionized the  textile  industries,  but  England  took  great 
pains  that  none  of  these  machines  should  reach  her  col- 
onists ;  so,  although  waking  up  to  the  importance  of  the 
cotton  industry  at  a  late  period  in  their  history,  the  col- 
onists made  no  headway  in  establishing  it  in  their  midst, 
and  the  colonial  period  closed  with  no  particular  advance 
having  been  made,  and  it  was  only  during  the  earlier 


Efforts  to 
secure  cotton 
machinery  in 
America. 


Hargreaves'  Spinning-Jenny. 

years  of  the  succeeding  period,  beginning  with  the  adop- 
tion of  the  constitution,  that  the  American  people  over- 
came the  existing  obstacles.  They  made  great  efforts  to 
secure  English  machines,  but  the  legislation  of  England 
prohibiting  the  exportation  of  machines,  tools,  or  plans, 
and  even  the  immigration  of  men  who  knew  how  to  build 
machines,  presented  difficulties  which  they  could  not 
overcome.  Some  of  these  difficulties  aided  in  bringing 
about  a  frame  of  mind  which  led  to  a  conclusion  that 
great  efforts  must  be  made  to  secure  industrial  independ- 


Textile  Industries.  55 


ence,  and  the  colonists  actually  attempted  to  introduce 

spinning-  machines  as  early  as   1775.       Mr.  Aitkin,  who 

published  the  Pennsylvania  Magazine,  brought  out  in  the 

year  just   named  a  cut  of  what   he  called    "a  new   in-    Spinning 
.  .       ,  machinery. 

vented  machine  for  spinning  of  wool  or  cotton,"  and  he 
said  in  a  note  accompanying  the  cut  that  he  had  seen 
the  machine  perform  and  was  convinced  of  its  usefulness. 
Mr.  Christopher  Tully  was  the  maker  of  the  Philadelphia 
machine,  but  whether  it  had  anything  to  do  with  the 
setting  up  of  a  manufactory  in  that  city  for  the  produc- 
tion of  woolen,  cotton,  and  linen  goods,  in  which  the 
machine  was  used,  it  is  impossible  to  determine  ;  but  the 
factory  was  commenced  in  1775,  and  the  efforts  of  the 
association  which  erected  it  constitute  the  first  actual  at- 
tempt to  manufacture  cotton  goods  by  new  methods  in 
the  United  States. 

The  provinces  urged  the  manufacture  of  textile  ma- 
chinery, cotton-cards,  etc.,  and  in  1775  there  was  under- 
taken at  Norwich,  Conn.,  the  manufacture  of  iron  wire  card  teeth, 
for  the  making  of  cotton  and  wool-cards.     Card  teeth 
were  made   by    hand    in    1777    by   one  Oliver   Evans, 
of  Philadelphia,    and  Jeremiah   Wilkinson,    of  Cumber- 
land, R.    I.,  was  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  hand- 
cards.      Evans  invented  a  machine  by  which   he  could 
turn  them  out  at  the  rate  of  1,500  per  minute.     So  be- 
fore the   Revolution  the  cotton   industry  was  fairly  well 
underway.     The  war  brought  many  appeals  from  Con-    Effect  of  wai 
gress  to  increase  the  supply  of  wool   and  other  materials   '(■!!!„',''..' '" 
and  for  the  expansion  of  the  manufacture  of  cloth.     The 
armies  needed  clothing,  and  Congress  had  to  rely  upon 
the  people  of  the  colonies  to  supply  it. 

While  the  first  attempt  to  manufacture  cotton  goods    Early  attempts 
on   any   scale    occurred    in     Philadelphia,    the    second   i1.!,',',!"'!" 
attempt  was  made  in  Worcester,  Mass.,  in  17S0,  and  a 


I  tee  of  flax. 


56         Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 

spinning-jenny*  on  the  English  pattern  was  procured. 
This  machine  and  that  in  use  at  Philadelphia  were  in 
all  probability  brought  over  prior  to  the  legislation  of 
Great  Britain  which  prohibited  their  exportation  from 
that  country,  for  the  accounts  of  manufactures  nowhere 


Crompton's  Mule-Jenny  (specification  drawing). 


British  prohi- 
bition. 


give  any  evidence  of  any  other  English-made  machines 
having  been  used  in  the  United  States  at  any  time  prior 
to  those  just  mentioned.  The  use  of  textile  machinery- 
belongs  to  the  period  following  the  Revolution. 

The  use  of  flax  and  hemp  by  the  colonists  was  very 


*  Spinning-jenny. — A  machine  for  spinning  wool  or  cotton.  It  has  a  series 
of  vertical  spindles,  each  of  which  is  supplied  with  roving  from  a  separate 
spool,  and  has  a  clasping  and  traversing  mechanism  by  means  of  which  the 
operator  is  enabled  to  clasp  and  draw  out  all  the  roving  or  roll  simultaneously 
during  the  operation  of  twisting,  and  to  feed  the  twisted  threads  to  the 
spindles  when  winding  on — the  whole  operation  being  almost  exactly  like 
hand-spinning,  except  that  a  large  number  of  rovings  are  operated  upon  in- 
stead of  a  single  one. 

Spinning-mule. — A  machine  invented  by  Samuel  Crompton,  in  which  the 
rovings  are  delivered   from   a   series  of  sets   of  drawing-rollers  to  spindles 

E laced  on  a  carriage  which  travels  away  from  the  rollers  while  the  thread  is 
eing  twisted,  and  returns  toward  the  roilers  while  the  thread  is  being  wound. 
It  draws,  stretches,  and  twists  at  one  operation.  So  named  because  it  was  a 
combination  of  the  drawing-rollers  of  Arkwright  and  the  jenny  of  Hargreaves. 
Spinning-jack. — A  device  for  twisting  and  winding  a  sliver  as  it  comes 
from  the  drawing-rollers.  It  is  placed  in  the  can,  in  which  it  rotates,  the 
sliver  being  wound  on  a  bobbin. 


Textile  Industries.  57 


general.  They  produced  a  coarse  kind  of  mixed  fab- 
rics in  which  linen  or  hemp  thread  largely  entered  as 
material.  Linen  subserved  nearly  all  the  purposes  for  General 
which  cotton  is  now  employed,  and  for  this  reason  the 
cultivation  of  flax  and  hemp  plants  received  great  atten- 
tion.* The  linens  were  of  very  coarse  texture.  The 
kerseys,  linsey-woolseys,  serges,  and  druggets  consisted 
of  wool  variously  combined  with  flax  or  tow,  and  formed 
the  outer  clothing  of  a  large  part  of  the  population  dur- 
ing the  colder  season.  Hempen  cloth  and  linen  of  differ- 
ent degrees  of  fineness,  from  the  coarsest  tow-cloth  to  the 
finest  Holland,  constituted  the  principal  wearing  apparel, 
outward  and  inward.  The  inner  garments  and  the  table 
and  bed  linen  of  nearly  all  classes  were  almost  entirely 
supplied  from  the  serviceable  products  of  the  household 
industry.  The  materials  were  mostly  grown  upon  the 
farms  of  the  planters,  and  the  breaking  and  heckling  of   Methodsof 

1  a  °  spuming  flax 

the  flax  were  done  by  the  men,  while  the  carding,  spin- 
ning, weaving,  bleaching,  and  dyeing  were  performed  by 
the  wives  and  daughters  of  the  planters,  the  women 
taking  great  pride  in  the  products  of  their  industry. 
The  laborers  dressed  in  home-made  goods  of  hemp  or  Laborer's  dress. 
flax,  and  coats,  or  doublets,  and  breeches  of  leather  or 
buckskin  were  also  worn.  Felt  hats,  coarse  leather 
shoes,  with  brass  buckles,  and  sometimes  with  wooden 
heels,  were  part  of  the  equipment  of  the  workingmen. 
The  Scotch-Irish  of  New  Hampshire  undertook  to 
manufacture  linen  goods,  for  they  were  familiar  with  this 
industry.  The  foot-wheel  was  used  by  them  for  spinning 
the  flax,  and  these  men,  wherever  they  were,  undertook 
to  improve  the  linen  manufacture.  Tiny  introduced  a 
better  knowledge  of  the  cultivation  and  manufacture  of 
flax  and  linen  and  of  spinning  flax.      Most  of  the  proc- 

*  See  Bishop's  ' '  History  of  American  Manufactures." 


58        Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


esses  of  manufacture  were  manual  operations,  only  crude 
and  imperfect  implements  being  used,  and  much  of  the 
woolen  cloth  was  worn  without  shearing,  pressing,  or 
any  other  finish.  As  a  result  of  the  efforts  of  the 
Scotch-Irish,  a  public  meeting  was  called  in  Boston, 
when  a  committee  was  appointed  to  consider  the  pro- 
spinning  school  priety  of  establishing  "a  spinning  school  or  schools  for 
the  instruction  of  the  children  of  the  town."*  A  large, 
handsome  brick  building  was  erected  on  the  east  side  of 
what  was  Long  Acre,  now  known  as  Tremont  Street,  near 
Hamilton  Place.  At  the  opening  an  immense  concourse 
assembled,  and  the  women  of  Boston,  rich  and  poor, 
appeared  on  the  Common  with  their  spinning-wheels, 
vying  with  each  other  in  the  use  of  the  instrument.  Sub- 
scriptions were  raised  for  the  support  of  the  project,  and 
the  Assembly,  in  1737,  laid  a  tax  on  carriages  and  other 
luxuries  for  the  maintenance  of  the  institution.  After  a 
few  years  of  active  work  the  building  was  abandoned, 
and  it  was  afterward  used  as  a  manufactory  for  worsted 
hose,  metal  buttons,  etc. 

Hon.  Daniel  Oliver  started  a  spinning  school  at  Bos- 
ton about  the  same   time,   for  the  employment  of  the 

Public  spinning    poor. 

The  city  of  New  York  in  1734  passed  an  ordinance 
for  the  erection  of  a  poorhouse,  which  was  furnished 
with  spinning-wheels,  leather  and  tools  for  shoemakers, 
knitting-needles,  flax,  etc.,  for  the  employment  of  the 
inmates. 
Linen  Linen  manufacture  prospered  fairlv  well  in  the  other 

manufactures.  L  l  J 

colonies,  the  cultivation  of  flax  and  hemp  being  much 
attended  to  in  Pennsylvania,  where  the  German  and  Irish 
people  had  settled  in  large  numbers.     These  manufac- 


*  For  an  account  of  this  experiment  recourse  has  been  had  to  Bishop's  ex- 
cellent "  History  of  American  Manufactures." 


Textile  Industries.  59 


tures  did  not  flourish  so  well  in  the  South,  because, 
while  the  soil  was  well  adapted  for  hemp  and  flax,  the 
profits  of  tobacco  culture  discouraged  other  industries  ; 
so  the  clothing  of  the  southern  colonies,  as  linen,  woolen, 
silk,  hats,  and  even  leather,  came  from  the  old  country. 
The  expense  of  labor  probably  had  something  to  do  ^f^^or 
with  these  matters,  because  the  raising,  dressing,  and 
manufacture  of  flax  and  hemp  involved  a  large  amount 
of  labor  simply  to  bring  the  material  into  such  shape 
that  thread  could  be  made  of  it.  The  scarcity  of  labor 
hindered  manufactures  in  all  the  colonies.  Some  forms 
of  industry,  of  course,  afforded  the  means  of  purchasing 
foreign  merchandise  on  fairly  easy  terms,  thus  reducing 
the  inducement  to  undertake  the  manufacture  of  goods. 
This  operated  to  retard  the  development  of  the  textile 
industries,  as  well  as  others.  The  efforts  to  cultivate 
silk  and  to  make  silk  goods  met  with  but  little  success. 
Some  of  the  colonists  brought  with  them  a  knowledge  of 
silk-raising  and  silk  manufacture,  but  the  accounts  of  Silk, 
this  industry  are  so  meager  that  one  cannot  state  posi- 
tively the  extent  to  which  it  was  developed. 

IndififO  was  introduced  and  helped  to  make  the  textile 

Indigo. 

industries  more  profitable  and  easy,  but  they  could  not 
compete  with  agriculture,  commerce,  and  the  fisheries, 
which  were  the  great  strong  arms  of  the  colonies. 

The  close  of  the  first  century  of  the  colonies  found 
them  hampered  by  the  laws  of  the  mother-country.  Manufacturers 
While  the  first  attempts  to  make  a  portion  of  their  own  iawsPcr 
clothing  had  not  drawn  much  attention  to  the  colonists 
from  English  merchants  and  manufacturers,  their  subse- 
quent efforts  did  draw  such  attention,  and  on  account  of 
complaints  that  were  made  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  that 
wool  and  woolen  manufactures  of  Ireland  and  the  North 
American    plantations    were    being  exported   to  foreign 


60         Industrial  Involution  of  the    United  States. 

markets  formerly  supplied  by  England,  the  British  Par- 
English  prohib-  Hament  passed  a  law  in    i^qq  which  for  the  first  time 

itive  measures.  I  ,  . 

recognized  such  manufactures  in  the  colonies.  This  act, 
known  as  10  and  n  Wm.  III.,  c.  10,  provided  that 
"after  the  first  day  of  December,  1699,  no  wool,  wool- 
fels,  yarn,  cloth,  or  woolen  manufactures  of  the  English 
plantations  in  America  shall  be  shipped  in  any  of  the 
said  English  plantations,  or  otherwise  loaden,  in  order 
to  be  transported  thence  to  any  place  whatsoever,  under 
the  penalty  of  forfeiting  ship  and  cargo,  and  ^500  fine 
for  each  offense  ;  and  the  Governors  of  the  Plantations 
and  Officers  of  Customs  and  Revenue  there  are  to  see 
this  Act,  as  it  relates  to  the  plantations,  duly  executed." 
The  total  population  of  the  American  colonies  when  this 
prohibition  was  placed  upon  them  was  probably  about 
260,000.  Under  such  prohibitions  the  struggle  was  a 
hard  one,  and  with  courage,  persistence,  and  ingenuity 
the  colonists  went  on  in  their  way  ;  yet  when  the  eigh- 
teenth century  drew  to  a  close  and  their  political  inde- 
pendence of  Great  Britain  had  been  won  and  a  new  con- 
stitution adopted,  the  country  found  itself  still  subject  to 
Great  Britain  in  most  industrial  matters. 


CHAPTER  V. 


PRINTING    AND    PUBLISHING. 


Industry  is  always  allied  to  the  diffusion  of  knowl- 
edge; so  its  development  must  necessarily  require  the   industry  am 
printing  press.      Primitive  wants  are  supplied  that  com-     "ow  e  ge' 


** 


Bknjamin  Franklin. 

fort  may  be  secured,  but  general   knowledge  and  the   provision  for 
evolution  of  industry  must  go  hand  in  hand  ;  so  the  first 
colonists,  while  working  diligently  to  demonstrate  their 

61 


62        Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


First  press. 


First  printed 
matter. 


First  book. 


First  original 
composition. 


Second  press. 


capacity,  not  only  to  provide  their  wants,  but  to  export 
their  products,  had  regard  for  posterity,  and  provided 
at  an  early  day  for  the  best  interests  of  education  and 
the  diffusion  of  knowledge. 

The  first  printing  press  in  the  country  was  established 
at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  in  1639,  provision  having  been 
made  for  a  college  at  that  place  the  year  before.  The 
Virginia  colonists  had  made  provision  for  a  college  at  an 
earlier  date,  16 19,  but  the  plans  of  the  Virginians  were 
not  allowed  to  be  carried  out.  The  first  issue  of  any 
printed  matter  was  from  the  Cambridge  press,  in  January, 
1639,  when  a  small  pamphlet,  "The  Freeman's  Oath," 
was  printed.*  There  was  brought  out  an  almanac  for 
the  year  1639  from  the  same  press,  while  in  1640  the 
first  book  appeared.  It  was  called  ' '  The  Bay  Psalm 
Book."  It  went  through  many  editions,  being  a  popu- 
lar work,  both  in  America  and  England,  and  in  the 
latter  country  an  edition  was  published  soon  after  its 
appearance  in  the  colonies,  the  latest  edition  being 
printed  in  1754. 

In  1640  Mrs.  Anne  Bradstreet,  the  wife  of  Simon 
Bradstreet,  who  afterward  became  governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  who  was  a  daughter  of  the  celebrated 
Thomas  Dudley,  brought  out  a  volume  of  poems,  which 
was  the  first  original  composition  printed  in  America. 

The  second  press  which  was  brought  into  use  in  the 
colonies  was  sent  over  in  1655,  accompanied  with  all  the 
necessary  materials  for  printing.  This  press  was  designed 
particularly  for  printing  the  Bible  and  other  books  in 
aboriginal  tongues  and  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  Rev. 
John  Eliot  in  his  missionary  work  with  the  Indians. 

That  great  aid  to  the  spread  of  printed  information,  the 


*  Isaiah  Thomas,  "  The  History  of  Printing  in  America,"  Worcester,  Mass., 
1S10. 


Printing  and  Publishing.  63 

copyright,  was  first  applied  in  1672,  under  the  General 
Court  of  Massachusetts,  when  John  Usher,  a  bookseller, 
was  given  the  privilege  of  publishing  a  revised  edition  of 
the  laws  of  the  colony. 

A  second  press  was  set  up  at  Boston  by  one  John 
Foster,  in  1674,  and  he  had  the  honor  of  printing  the 
first  book,  so  far  as  known,  ever  printed  in  that  town. 

The  third  printing  press  which  the  colonics  could  Tlijnl 
boast,  and  the  very  first  that  was  erected  outside  of  the 
Massachusetts  colony,  was  set  up  in  Philadelphia,  in  the 
year  1686,  by  William  Bradford.  This  was  at  a  place 
now  known  as  Kensington.  Some  of  the  authorities  give 
it  that  his  earliest  publication  was  an  almanac  for  the  year 
1687. 

New  York's  first  press  was  established  in  1693,  and  New  York's 
this  was  by  the  same  Bradford  who  had  set  up  the  press  first  press- 
in  Philadelphia  in  1686.  Bradford,  after  his  removal  to 
New  York,  was  appointed  printer  to  the  government, 
being  allowed  ^50  from  the  public  treasury.  He  held 
this  situation  for  nearly  thirty  years,  and  was  also  during 
the  same  period  public  printer  for  the  province  of  New 
York. 

The  first  attempt  to  publish  a  newspaper  in  the  First 
colonies  occurred  at  Boston  on  September  25,  1690,  newsPaPer- 
when  a  sheet  entitled  Publick  Occurrences,  both  Foreign 
and  Domestick,  appeared.  This  publication,  which  was 
printed  by  Richard  Pierce  and  published  by  Benjamin 
Harris,  and  which  was  to  have  been  issued  monthly, 
never  went  beyond  the  first  number,  being  suppressed 
by  the  government. 

The  first  paper  of  which  there  is  any  record  of  its   .... 

sr    1  J  Printing  in 

having  gone  beyond  the  iir.^t  number   was    the  News-   Maryland. 
Letter,  published  on  April  24,   1704,  by  one  Green,  in 
Boston,   for  John  Campbell,   postmaster  of  that  town. 


64         Industrial  J  ■'.volution  of  iJtc    United  States. 


Second  news- 
paper in  the 
colonies. 


South  Carolina. 


Rhode  Island. 


New 

Hampshire. 
North  Carolina. 


Delaware. 


Georgia. 


The  second  newspaper  was  the  Boston  Gazette^  issued  in 
Boston.  This  was  printed  by  James  Franklin,  a  brother 
of  Benjamin  Franklin,  and  was  published  December  21, 
1719. 

The  Neiu  York  Gazette  was  published  October  16, 
1725,  by  the  Bradford  already  referred  to. 

The  first  regular  printing  done  in  Maryland  was  by 
William  Parks,  in  1727  or  1728.  A  press  had  been  set 
up  at  Annapolis  in  1726,  and  on  this  Parks  printed  a 
complete  collection  of  the  laws  of  Maryland.  The  next 
year  he  began  the  publication  of  the  Maryland  Gazette. 
Parks  also  established  a  press  at  Williamsburg,  Va. ,  in 
1729,  and  did  the  first  printing  in  that  colony. 

South  Carolina's  first  press  was  set  up  at  Charleston, 
by  Eleazer  Phillips,  of  Boston,  in  1730. 

Rhode  Island's  first  press  was  at  Newport,  and  was 
established  by  Benjamin  Franklin's  brother  James,  in 
1732. 

Other  colonies  had  presses  at  later  dates — New  Hamp- 
shire in  1756  ;  and  North  Carolina  in  1754-55,  through 
the  establishment  of  a  press  at  Newbern,  by  James  Davis. 

Delaware's  first  press  was  established  at  Wilmington 
in  1761,  by  James  Adams. 

Georgia  came  into  the  printing  business  the  last  of  the 
old  states,  a  press  being  set  up  at  Savannah  in  1762,  by 
James  Johnson. 

The  great  rival  towns  for  printing  were  Philadelphia 
and  Boston,  the  publishing  business  of  the  two  cities 
being  nearly  equal  prior  to  the  Revolution.  Benjamin 
Franklin,  America's  greatest  typographer,  shared  the  suc- 
cesses of  the  two  cities.  Born  in  Boston,  and  receiving 
his  first  instructions  in  the  art  of  printing  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  his  brother  James,  he  carried  his  knowledge 
to  Philadelphia  and  gave  that  city  his  illustrious  services, 


Printing  and  Publishing. 


65 


his  industry,  wisdom,  and  taK-nt  making  his  skill  and 
reputation  known  throughout  all  the  colonics  and  the 
home  country. 

An  enterprising  undertaking  for  the  primitive  colonial   Fi.rsf  B,iV?le 

1  £>  &  1  printed  111 

press  was  the  bringing  out  of  the  first  German   Bible.    America. 
This  was  printed  at  Germantown,  Pa.,  in  1743,  by  Chris- 
topher Saur,  and  was  the  first  Bible  printed  for  the  Euro- 
pean population  in  the  American  colonies.     Three  years1 
labor  had  been  spent  upon  the  work,  which  was  of  quarto 
form,  containing  1,272  pages.      It  was  the  heaviest  pub- 
lication    which 
had  been    issued 
from  the  press  in 
Pennsylvania. 

The  first  Amer- 
ican Bible  in  the 
English  language 
w  as  carrie  d 
through  the  press 
at  Boston  in  a 
private  way  by 
Kneeland  and 
Green,  about  the 
year  1752.  It  was 
chiefly   made  by 

Daniel    Hench- 

,     .  ,  The  Franklin  l'Kiiss. 

man,      probably 

the  most  flourishing  bookseller  of  the  American  colonies 

prior  to  the  Revolution,      lie  it  was  who  built  the  first   First  paper-mill 

......      tit         -i—       1        1      1  1  11/-  mi    i"  the  American 

paper-mill  in  New  England,  although  the  first  paper-mill  colonies. 
erected  in  the  American  colonies  was  built  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, the  date  of  its  erection  not  being  clearly  ascertain- 
able. 

The  General  Magazine  and  Historical  Chronicle  for 


First  Bible  in 
English. 


66         Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  Stales. 


First  daily 
newspaper  in 
America. 


Newspapers  in 
Pennsylvania  at 
time  of  Revolu- 
tion. 


In  Massachu- 
setts. 


In  New  York. 


all  the  British  Plantations  in  America  was  the  first 
journal  having  a  literary  character  published  in  this 
country.  This  was  in  1741,  the  publication  being  a  duo- 
decimo monthly,  at  twelve  shillings  a  year.  Benjamin 
Franklin  was  the  printer  and  editor.  It  had  but  a  short 
life,  being  published  only  six  months.  After  Franklin 
brought  out  his  magazine  John  Welbe  published  The 
American  Magazine  in  opposition  to  Franklin,  but 
Welbe' s  enterprise  did  not  continue  long. 

The  Pennsylvania  Packet,  or  General  Advertiser,  was 
the  first  daily  newspaper  published  in  America.  This 
was  published  in  Philadelphia,  and  first  appeared  as  a 
weekly  in  November,  1771,  being  printed  by  John  Dunlap. 

The  Philadelphia  Gazette,  established  in  Philadelphia 
in  1788  by  Samuel  Relf,  was  the  first  daily  evening 
paper. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution  there  were  nine 
newspapers  in  Pennsylvania,  of  which  six  in  English  and 
one  in  German  were  published  in  Philadelphia,  one  in 
German  at  Germantown,  and  one  in  English  and  Ger- 
man at  Lancaster. 

At  this  period  there  were  seven  newspapers  published 
in  Massachusetts,  of  which  five  were  at  Boston,  one  at 
Salem,  and  one  at  Newburyport.  Connecticut  had  four 
and  Rhode  Island  one,  while  New  Hampshire  could  claim 
but  one,  which  was  published  at  Portsmouth.  There 
were,  therefore,  thirteen  newspapers  in  New  England  at 
that  time. 

There  were  four  newspapers  published  in  the  province 
of  New  York  at  the  date  named,  three  in  the  city  of  New 
York  and  one  at  Albany.  Maryland  had  two,  one  at 
Annapolis  and  one  at  Baltimore.  There  were  two  in  the 
colony  of  Virginia,  two  in  North  Carolina,  three  in  South 
Carolina,  and  one  in  Georgia. 


Printing  and  Publishing.  67 

The   colonists  could  therefore  boast,    at  the  time  of 
their  movement  agfainst  the  mother-country,  of  thirty-   Numberof  . 

&  J  '  J       newspapers  in 

seven  newspapers.  Many  of  the  efforts  to  establish  peri-  the  colonies. 
odicals  in  the  colonies  were  failures,  the  entire  number 
between  1704  and  1775  being  less  than  one  hundred,  of 
which  three  fourths  were  newspaper  sheets  and  the  bal- 
ance magazines  of  some  kind  or  form.  Twenty-two  of 
the  whole  number  were  begun  in  Massachusetts  and  four- 
teen in  other  New  England  states.  Pennsylvania  had 
twenty-two,  New  York  sixteen,  and  the  other  colonies  or 
provinces  twenty-two.  Many  of  them,  however,  had  but 
a  brief  existence,  while  some  continued  for  a  respectable 
period,  exerting  a  varied  influence  on  the  public  mind. 
Materials  were  costly  and  were  mostly  imported  ;  the 
price  of  labor  was  high  and  the  country  sparsely  settled,  High  price  of 
so  that  but  small  circulations  could  be  secured,  and  a  L     ,;  .     . 

SiiKill  Lircula- 

general  taste  and  leisure  for  reading  had  not  been  fully  tions- 
cultivated.  Another  obstacle  which  the  printers  and  pub- 
lishers were  obliged  to  meet  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
colonial  period  was  the  legislation  of  the  mother-country. 
Under  the  Stamp  Act  of  March,  1765,  all  pamphlets 
and  newspapers  were  subject  to  a  duty  of  one  half-  li"MS- 
penny,  and  all  such,  after  November  1st  of  that  year, 
were  required  to  be  printed  on  stamped  paper.  A  pub- 
lication not  exceeding  six  sheets  was  subjected  to  a  tax 
of  two  shillings,  and  the  same  tax  was  imposed  upon  all 
advertisements.  Two  pence  a  year  was  fixed  for  almanacs, 
if  printed  on  one  side  of  a  sheet,  and  four  pence  on  all 
others.  Dr.  Franklin  was  in  London  at  the  time  of  the 
passage  of  the  act,  having  been  sent  there  as  colonial 
agent.  In  a  well-known  letter  referring  to  this  act, 
Franklin  says  :  "  The  sun  of  liberty  is  set  ;  you  must 
light  up  the  lamps  of  industry  and  economy."  The 
party  to  whom  he  wrote  responded  :     "Be  assured  we 


Tax  on  puhlica- 


68        Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Obstacles  in 
the  way  of 
prioting. 


Printing-  and 

bookselling 

combined. 


Booksellers  in 
New  England, 
New  York,  etc. 


shall  light  torches  of  quite  another  sort."  The  act  of 
March,  1765,  was  repealed  in  1766,  but  in  1767  Parlia- 
ment made  another  law  imposing  a  duty  on  paper  as  well 
as  some  other  articles.  Much  embarrassment  was  ex- 
perienced under  the  workings  of  this  last  act.  On  the 
other  hand,  later  on  the  Continental  Congress,  which 
met  in  September,  1774,  at  Philadelphia,  forbade  printers 
to  execute  any  printing  for  the  adherents  of  the  British 
administration.  So  the  printing  business  of  the  colonies 
was  hedged  in,  like  most  other  industries,  and  printers 
had  to  overcome  not  only  great  natural  but  artificial  and 
political  barriers. 

All  these  causes  made  literary  enterprises  somewhat 
dubious.  The  science  and  skill  displayed  in  advertising 
in  modern  times  were  not  thought  of  in  colonial  days. 
The  whole  number  of  printing  presses  in  the  country 
prior  to  the  Revolution  could  not  have  been  much  above 
forty.  The  printers  mostly  combined  bookselling  with 
their  business,  while  not  a  few  engaged  in  the  selling 
of  groceries,  fancy  articles,  and  a  general  assortment 
of  goods.  Some,  indeed,  were  large  dealers  in  general 
merchandise,  keeping  for  sale  not  only  domestic  but 
imported  books.  The  staple  supply  of  the  colonial 
bookstores  consisted  of  works  on  law,  medicine,  history, 
and  some  of  the  minor  departments  of  science  and 
general  knowledge.  Ninety-two  booksellers  had  car- 
ried on  business  in  Boston  prior  to  1775,  while  eighteen 
houses  were  engaged  in  like  business  in  other  parts  of 
New  England.  The  names  of  a  dozen  concerns  appear 
for  New  York,  and  thirty-eight  for  Philadelphia,  while 
Maryland,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia  added  six  to  the 
list.  This  list,  however,  is  far  from  complete,  but  it  in- 
dicates the  development  of  a  business  which  has  become 
in  our  day  one  of  enormous  proportions. 


Printing  and  Publishing.  69 

Some  of  the  early  colonial  printers  undertook  the 
business  of  bookbinding  in  connection  with  their  other   Bookbinding. 

work,  the  first  attempts  in  this  direction  being  upon 
Eliot's  Indian  Bible,  as  early  as  1663.  The  edition  of 
the  Psalms,  which  has  been  mentioned,  was  bound  in 
parchment.  More  than  a  third  of  all  the  booksellers  who 
carried  on  business  in  Boston  had  binderies  of  their  own. 
This  feature  of  the  business  was  not  so  general  in  the 
other  colonics,  for  in  New  York  there  were  but  few  who 
did  binding  in  connection  with  their  business  as  book- 
sellers or  printers.  In  Philadelphia  there  were  several 
who  carried  on  this  feature  of  the  book  business,  and  in 
Charleston,  of  the  three  booksellers  there  at  the  close  of 
the  colonial  period,  two  executed  their  own  binding. 
In  connection  with   these  brief  historical  facts  a  ques- 

1  Literary  rhar- 

tion  fnight  arise  as  to  the  literary  character  of  the  col-   acterofthe 

colonists, 
onists.     There  were  many  persons  of  good  repute    for 

their  learning  and  ability  who  sustained  this  character. 
Many  of  them  had'  been  educated  in  European  uni- 
versities. Some  of  these  names  are  found  in  the  "Trans- 
actions" of  the  Royal  Society  of  London  and  those  of  the 
American  Philosophical  Society.  The  Bibliotheca  Amer- 
icana, in  1789,  gives  us  a  pretty  clear  insight  as  to  the 
character  of  some  of  these  men,  and  from  their  names 
and  their  calling  the  progress  made  in  literature  ami  in 
various  departments  of  knowledge  and  art  is  learned. 
The  following  quotation  is  taken  from  the  Bibliotheca 
Americana  : 

'Flu-  people  "f  North  America  have  now  professors  in  every 
art  and  science,  with  adequate  salaries;  ami,  whatever  they 
may  want  to  import,  men  of  eminence  in  literature  are  not  of 
the  number.  At  the  head  of  their  philosophers  and  politicians, 
stands  the  venerable  Franklin.  In  the  fust  class,  tin-  ingenious 
Lorimer  must  not  be  forgotten.  In  mathematics,  the  self- 
taught  Rittenhouse.    In  divinity,  Weatherspoon.    In  history, 


70        Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 

criticism,  and  policy,  the  modern  Tacitus  (Payne).  In  poetry, 
Barlow,  Smith,  and  Ray.  In  painting,  West.  In  law  and 
oratory — how  shall  I  enumerate  them  ?  Take  the  first  class. 
In  Georgia,  George  Walton  ;  German  Baker,  in  Virginia  ;  Jen- 
nings, in  Maryland  ;  Lewis,  Bradford,  and  Chambers,  in  Penn- 
sylvania ;  Boudinot,  in  Jersey  ;  Hamilton  and  Bird,  in  New 
York  ;  Johnson,  in  Connecticut ;  and  Parsons,  in  Massachusetts. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

SAWMILLS. — BUILDINGS    AND    BUILDING    MATERIALS. 

Many  industries  other  than  those  already  referred  to 
were  planted  by  the  colonists.  Sawmills  and  the  manu- 
facture of  lumber  gave  opportunity  for  the  employment 
of  labor  and  the  exportation  of  the  products  of  the 
forest.     As  seen  in  a  former  chapter,  the  first  efforts  of  Sawmills 

1  stimulate 

the  colonists  outside  of  raising  food  were  expended  in  exportation. 

the  manufacture  of  clapboards  for  exportation,  and  both 

the  Virginia  and  the  Plymouth  settlements  sent  home 

cargoes  of  these  articles.     They  were  made  by  hand, 

for  in  those  early  days  there  were  no  other  means  of 

manufacturing.      Naturally,  the  abundance  of  timber  led 

to  the  erection  of  crude  sawmills.     Artisans  were  sent  as  n    . 

i  nuie  saw- 
early  as  1620  to  Virginia  to  set  up  sawmills,  so  that  the  mills- 

making  of  boards  and  clapboards,  which  had  been  ac- 
complished by  hand-labor  as  early  as  1609,  might  be 
expanded  and  the  exports  increased.  When  it  is  known 
that  a  man  could  easily  make  by  hand  15,000  clapboards 
or  pipe-staves  in  a  year,  which  were  worth  in  the  colo- 
nies £<\  per  thousand  and  in  the  Canaries  ,£20,  it  will 
be  understood  how  desirable  it  was  to  have  sawmills,  and 
yet  as  late  as  1650,  when  the  value  of  clapboards  was 
that  just  stated,  there  was  no  sawmill  in  Virginia,  nor 
does  the  record  show  the  erection  of  any  permanent 
mills  for  some  years  after  that  date.  For  the  Carolinas 
and  Georgia,  however,  the  accounts  are  clearer,  although 
the  dates  of  the  erection  of  the  first  mills  are  not  ascer- 


72         Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


Encouragement 

of  in  South. 


First  sawmills 
in  New 
England. 


In  Rhode 
Island  and 
Connecticut. 


In  Delaware 
and  New 
Jersey. 


tainable.  Acts  were  passed  in  South  Carolina  as  early 
as  1 69 1  for  the  encouragement  of  the  erection  of  engines 
for  propagating  the  staples  of  that  province,  and  a  few 
years  later  (in  1712)  for  encouraging  the  building  of 
sawmills  and  other  mechanic  engines  ;  yet  the  sawmill 
does  not  appear  to  have  come  into  extensive  requisition 
in  Carolina  during  colonial  times. 

Turning  to  the  northern  colonies,  we  find  that  the  first 
sawmill  erected  in  New  England  was  in  New  Hampshire, 
near  what  is  now  known  as  Portsmouth,  where  a  sawmill 
was  built  prior  to  the  year  1635  ;  at  least  this  is  the  first 
distinct  account  found  of  a  sawmill  in  New  England. 
Among  the  skilful  mechanics  sent  to  the  colonies  in 
1628-29  were  those  who  knew  how  to  erect  and  operate 
sawmills.  Some  accounts  give  it  that  one  was  built  in 
1633,  and  mention  is  made  of  mills  generally  at  even 
earlier  dates,  but  they  have  not  been  described.  But 
well-authenticated  accounts  indicate  that  just  prior  to 
1635  a  sawmill  was  erected,  as  stated.  During  the  first 
fifty  years  after  the  settlement  at  Plymouth  sawmills  were 
erected  in  different  parts  of  New  England,  the  many 
streams  offering  facilities  for  running  them,  and  before 
the  century  expired  saw  and  grist-mills  were  found  at 
convenient  points  in  most  of  the  northern  colonies,  and 
in  fair  proportion  in  the  others.  Rhode  Island,  Con- 
necticut, and  New  York  engaged  in  this  work,  and  in 
some  places  wind  sawmills  were  erected,  an  account  of 
the  latter  colony,  published  in  170S,  relating  that  a 
Dutch-built  mill  to  saw  timber  would  do  more  work  in 
an  hour  than  fifty  men  in  two  days.  Sawmills  were  also 
erected  in  Delaware,  while  New  Jersey  found  it  essential 
to  have  mills  of  her  own.  There  seems  to  be  no  infor- 
mation, however,  concerning  the  introduction  of  saw- 
mills in  Maryland  ;  but  water-mills,  for  grinding  corn, 


Sawmills. — Buildings  and  Building  Materials.     73 


were  erected  in  that  colony  by  public  subscription    in   In  Maryland 
1639.     In  many  places  grist-mills  were  built  alongside  of 
sawmills  in  order  that  the  same  power  which  moved  the 
one  might  be  utilized  in  moving  the  other. 

The  product   of  the   sawmill  was  considerable,    the  product  of 
official  value  of  different  kinds  of  lumber  exported  from  sawm,lls- 
all  the  colonies  in  1770  being  $686,588.     These  exports 


i,i r^   :■  ---As      :^ 


#  *%^~ 


consisted  of  boards,  plank,  scantling",  timber  for  masts,    _  , 

'  r  »'  l\portsof 

spars,  staves,  headings,  hoops,  and  poles.  After  the  close  lumber, 
of  the  colonial  period  (in  1792)  then-  were  exported 
65,846,024  feet  of  lumber,  80,813,357  shingles,  32,039,- 
707  hoops,  staves,  and  headings,  while  of  timber,  con- 
sisting of  ship  and  other  timbers,  frames  of  houses,  etc., 
large  quantities  were  sent  out. 

The  primitive  development  of  the  lumber  industry 
naturally  closes  with  the  colonial  period,  lor  when  the 
next  period  opened  a  new  power  had  arisen  and  a  new 
element    grown    into   the   development   of    industry — 


74        Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Use  of  wind- 
mills. 


Exports  of 
cereals. 


Early 

dwellings. 


Domestic 
architecture. 


steam  ;  but  the  account  of  the  grist  and  flour-mills, 
necessities  to  the  existence  of  the  people,  can  only  be 
told  in  detail.  In  general  it  may  be  said  that  nearly 
all  of  the  colonies  erected  windmills  for  the  grinding 
of  grain — all  of  the  colonies,  or  nearly  all  of  them, 
encouraging  the  industry — and  while  the  colonists  were 
exporting  very  considerable  quantities  of  lumber,  as  just 
stated,  which,  of  course,  were  over  and  above  their  own 
wants,  they  had  succeeded,  at  the  close  of  that  particular 
period  in  our  history,  in  sending  abroad  large  quantities 
of  flour  and  other  bread-stuffs,  the  exports  from  Phila- 
delphia alone  amounting  in  1789  to  369,668  barrels  of 
flour.  Some  of  the  mills,  especially  those  in  operation 
near  Philadelphia,  made  not  only  bolted  flour,  but 
ground  chocolate,  snuff,  hair-powder,  and  mustard,  and 
pressed  and  cut  tobacco,  by  water-power.  The  total 
exports  of  bread-stuffs  from  all  of  the  colonies  cannot  be 
stated  for  the  year  closing  the  colonial  period,  but  the 
total  export  of  flour  in  1791  was  619,681  barrels,  be- 
sides which  there  were  sent  abroad  over  1,000,000 
bushels  of  wheat. 

The  first  habitations  of  the  colonists  were  naturally 
crude  affairs.  They  had  plenty  of  timber  with  which  to 
build  their  houses,  but  they  had  to  wait  for  other  build- 
ing materials  before  any  ornamental  buildings  or  those 
having  anything  that  might  be  called  artificial  finish 
could  be  erected.  Log  houses  and  stockades — buildings 
erected  of  crude  hewn  timber — were  all  that  could  be  ob- 
tained. The  progress  of  social  life  is  marked  as  much, 
if  not  more,  by  domestic  architecture  as  by  almost  any 
other  line,  except,  it  may  be,  the  textile  industry.  So 
the  first  dwellings  of  the  colonists  could  claim  but  little 
advance  over  the  primitive  wigwams  of  the  savages,  and, 
in  fact,  in  many  cases  were  simply  temporary  huts,  like 


Sawmills. — Buildings  and  Building  Materials.    75 


the  huts  of  the  savages.  The  Indian  huts  had  thatched 
roofs  and  walls,  with  warm  mats  hanging-  about,  and 
were,  perhaps,  in  the  inclement  northern  climate,  more 
comfortable  than  the  dwellings  of  the  white  people. 

The  transition  marks  one  of  the  clearly-defined  features 
of  industrial  development,  and  this  takes  the  dwellings   Development  of 

1  °       dwellings. 

from  the  rude  habitation  to  the  capacious  frame  house 
and  to  the  mansion  of  stone  or  brick — accomplishments 
secured  only  by  much  toil  and  patience  and  years  of 
waiting.  When  a  people  pass  beyond  the  rude  hut  the 
development  of  many  features  of  industry  begins,  and 
the  manufacture  of  building  materials  and  of  everything 
that  can  be  used  in  adorning  dwellings  becomes  a  neces- 
sity. Our  forefathers  were  not  of  a  class  who  were  will- 
ing to  dwell  always  in  log  cabins.  The  log  cabin  is  a 
temporary  habitation,  and  has  no  relation  to  future  de- 
velopment, except  as  a  temporary  convenience.  When 
the  erection  of  dwell- 
ings which  shall  last 
for  years  begins,  archi- 
tecture, however  prim- 
itive, must  be  culti- 
vated, that  the  dwell- 
ings may  represent  the 
taste  and  the  intel- 
ligent progress  of  the 
people  building  them. 
So  the  manufacture  of 
boards,  brick,  lime,  and 
everything  entering 
into  the  building  trades 

must  be  provided.  It  has  been  seen  how  the  sawmill 
grew  and  developed  in  the  colonial  days,  furnishing  one 
of  the  profitable  branches  of  business,  both  through  the 


The  First  Chi  rch  Erected  in 
Connecticut.    Hartford,  1638. 


76         Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


Stone  and 
bricks. 


Virginia  first 
to  make  bricks. 


Limestone  and 
marble. 


First  brick 
house  in 
Massachusetts. 

In  Plymouth. 


supply  of  the  colonists  and  the  manufacture  of  lumber 
for  exportation. 

The  first  stone  and  bricks  which  were  used  in  the 
colonies  were  brought  from  England,  and  were  chiefly- 
used  in  the  building  of  fireplaces.  Ten  thousand  bricks 
were  imported  by  Massachusetts  in  1629.  Imported 
bricks  were  also  used  in  the  erection  of  dwellings,  and 
there  are  houses  in  different  parts  of  the  original  terri- 
tory whose  owners  now  boast  of  the  fact  that  the  bricks 
used  in  their  construction  were  brought  from  England. 

Virginia  was  the  first  colony  to  make  bricks.  This 
occurred  as  early  as  1612.  The  first  brick-kiln  in  New 
England  was  set  up  at  Salem,  Mass.,  in  the  year  1629, 
the  same  year  in  which  a  sawmill  was  started. 

The  discovery  of  limestone  and  marble  was  made  at 
an  early  time,  for  in  the  year  just  named  (1629) 
limestone,  freestone,  and  marble  were  found  to  exist 
in  the  eastern  part  of  the  Massachusetts  colony.  The 
first  brick  house  in  Massachusetts,  probably,  was  built 
in  Boston  in  1638,  as  near  as  the  records  allow  the 
mention  of  a  particular  date.  A  brick  watch-house 
was  built  on  Fort  Hill,  in  Plymouth,  in  1643.  The 
bricks  for  this  were  furnished  at  eleven  shillings 
per  thousand.  Some  writers  refer  to  the  fact  that 
as  early  as  1647  lime,  brick,  and  tile-making  were 
among  the  independent  trades  that  were  pursued  in  New 
England.  The  town  of  Medford,  on  the  Mystic  River, 
the  town  being  called  Mystic  at  that  time,  had  some 
brickyards  and  sent  the  product  to  Boston.  Mention  is 
found  of  spacious  houses,  having  brick,  tile,  slate,  and 
stone  settings,  existing  in  colonial  towns  in  the  fifties 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  as  early  as  1667  the 
Massachusetts  General  Court  undertook  the  regulation 
of  the  size  and  manufacture  of  bricks.     Ten  years  later 


Sawmills. — Buildings  and  Building  Materials.    77 


a  brick  college  building  was  erected  at  Cambridge,  while 
the  first  brick  meeting-house  was  erected  in  1694,  to 
take  the  place  of  a  wooden  one  in  Brattle  Street  in  Bos- 
ton. Brick-kilns  were  started  in  the  Maine  district  pre- 
vious to  1675,  but  most  of  the  towns  were  supplied  with 
wooden  dwellings  and  buildings. 

Under  the  Dutch,  many  of  the  buildings  in  New  York   Brick  buildings 
were  made  of  bricks,  but  the  material  was  imported  from   "'  New  ^ork" 
Holland.     A  church  edifice  was  erected  in  1642,  of  stone. 

Some  of  the  early  buildings  in  New  Jersey  were  con-  in  New  jersey, 
structed  partly  of  bricks,  but  mostly  of  split  trees,  the 
buildings  having  the  appearance  of  stockades,  although 
they  were  covered  with  shingles  and  plastered  inside. 
Barns  built  in  this  way  cost  about  $25  each.  Farm- 
houses were  built  in  a  very  cheap  manner,  stone  being 
used  for  the  chimneys.  In  1721  freestone  was  quarried 
at  Newark — probably  the  first  in  the  country.  Its  value 
was  recognized,  and  it  was  sent  to  neighboring  colonies. 
William  Penn's  manor-house,  which  was  situated  a  few 
miles  above  Bristol,  in  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania,  was 
built  of  bricks,  and  according  to  his  own  statement  cost 
over  ^5,000.  The  materials,  however,  were  largely 
brought  from  England. 

The  southern  colonies  do  not  seem  to  have  developed  i„  southern 
much  in  the  way  of  brickmaking  or  stone-cutting  ;  yet,  * 
while  wooden  buildings  were  largely  used  in  the  Caro- 
linas  and  other  southern  colonies,  there  were  near  the 
close  of  the  colonial  period  some  spacious  brick  houses 
in  southern  towns.  They  had  a  very  superior  quality 
of  clay,  and  the  manufacture  of  potters'  ware  was  com- 
menced about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century.  So, 
as  the  ambition  of  the  colonists  grew  relative  to  their 
habitations,  the  industries  necessary  to  meet  the  ambition 
developed  accordingly,  and  not  only  was  the  production 


78         Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  Stales. 


Exportation  of 
bricks. 


Glassmaking. 


First  In 
Virginia. 


First  in  north- 
ern colonies. 


of  bricks  at  the  close  of  the  colonial  period  equal  to  the 
demand  for  home  consumption,  but  small  exportations 
were  made.  These  exportations  were  chiefly  to  the 
West  Indies. 

While  bricks,  stone,  and  lime  were  produced,  the 
necessity  for  having  glass  made  at  home  was  felt.  Some 
of  the  artisans  sent  to  Virginia  made  an  attempt  to  pro- 
duce glass  as  early  as  1609.  It  was  an  expensive  article 
to  import,  on  account  of  the  breakage  which  was  likely  to 
occur.  This  fact  stimulated  the  colonists  to  efforts  to 
produce  their  own  glass,  but  another  and  a  more  curious 
cause  was  the  facility  with  which  glass  trinkets,  beads, 
etc.,  could  be  used  with  the  Indians  in  trading  for  furs, 
skins,  and  lands  ;  so  glassmaking  was  one  of  the  earliest 
industries  established  in  this  country,  and  the  first  of 
these,  as  stated,  was  in  Virginia  in  1609,  when  a  glass 
furnace  was  erected  about  a  mile  from  Jamestown.  In 
all  probability  this  was  the  very  first  manufactory  of  any 
kind  erected  in  this  country.  The  business  was  prose- 
cuted with  some  success,  but  the  glass  enterprise  was 
conducted  under  difficulties.  The  fuel  and  the  alkaline 
salts  required,  while  cheap,  necessitated  the  employment 
of  labor,  which  was  very  scarce,  and  labor  was  the  chief 
cost  of  glassmaking. 

The  first  glass  that  was  made  in  the  northern  colonies 
was  produced  in  Braintree,  Mass.,  at  a  village  called 
Germantown,  but  glass  bottles  were  the  only  articles 
made.  The  first  glass  works  in  that  colony  were  com- 
menced in  Salem,  Mass.,  about  1639,  and  the  persons 
interested  in  this  undertaking  were  granted  several  acres 
of  ground  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the  manufac- 
ture. It  should  be  understood  that  window-glass  and 
even  mirrors  and  glassware  were  not  common  in  England 
fifty  years  before  the  settlement  of  the  colonies,  for  as  late  as 


Sawmills. — Buildings  and  Building  Materials.    79 

1 66 1  country  houses  in  some  parts  of  Great  Britain  had 
no  glass  windows,  and  even  ambitious  palaces  were  but 
partly  supplied  with  glazing.  Few  attempts  were  made 
to  introduce  the  extensive  manufacture  of  glass  in  col- 
onies other  than  those  named.      On  Manhattan  Island  Giassmaking  in 

,  ,  .  111  New  York  and 

there  were  some  glassmakers  among  the  early  settlers,    Pennsylvania. 

and  one  or  two  attempts  were   made   in  Pennsylvania 

prior  to  1700,  and  between  that  time  and  the  adoption 

of  the  constitution  there  were  quite  a  number  of  works 

erected  here  and  there  ;  but  it  cannot  be  said  that  there 

was  very  much  progress  made  prior  to  the  Revolution. 

Although  the  demand  increased  and  the  use  of  glass  had 

....  Scarcity  of 

become  an  almost  universal  necessity,   it  was  a  scarce  glass  during 
article  during  the  War  of  Independence,  the  most  of  that 
used  prior  thereto  having  been  brought  from  the  old 
country. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


THE    IRON    INDUSTRY, 


Iron  ore  in 
Virginia. 


In  northern 
colonies. 


Metals  were  essential  in  the  building  trades  as  well 
as  for  domestic  purposes.  The  colonists,  however,  did 
not  have  much  knowledge  either  of  the  working  or  of 
the  uses  of  iron.  They  had  expected  to  find  great 
quantities  of  the  precious  metals.  At  the  time  America 
was  colonized  the  use  of  iron  was  increasing  greatly  in 
the  old  country.  Information  was  received  by  the  coun- 
cil in  London,  in  1610,  that  iron  ore  existed  in  Virginia 
and  that  it  had  been  found  even  upon  the  surface  of  the 
ground.  This,  it  is  stated,  had  been  tested  in  England 
and  found  to  be  of  excellent  quality.  In  16 19  workmen 
familiar  with  the  manufacture  of  iron,  to  the  number  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty,  were  sent  to  Virginia  for  the 
avowed  purpose  of  erecting  iron  works,  and  smelting 
furnaces  were  erected  on  Falling  Creek,  a  branch  of 
James  River,  in  that  year,  but  in  May,  1622,  the  works 
were  destroyed  by  the  Indians,  and  a  general  massacre 
of  the  workmen  and  their  families  occurred.  The  In- 
dians seemed  to  have  a  very  jealous  fear  of  works, 
whether  for  the  manufacture  of  iron  or  for  other  pur- 
poses. The  destruction  of  the  Virginia  works  and  the 
slaughter  of  the  people  connected  therewith  of  course 
discouraged  the  colonists,  and  no  other  attempt  at  the 
production  of  iron  was  made  for  several  years. 

In  the  northern  colonies  the  search  for  iron  ore  had 
been  carried  on,  and  it  had  been  discovered  in  some 

80 


The  Iron  Industry.  81 

parts  of  the  Massachusetts  colony  as  early  as  1630,  but 
no  attempt  was  made  to  produce  iron  until  some  fifteen 
years  later.  Bog-iron  ore*  was  discovered  in  Lynn, 
where  numerous  peat-bogs  were  found,  and  this  bog-  Bog  ore  in 
iron  ore  supplied  the  first  furnaces  of  the  Massachusetts 
colony,  whose  first  attempts  to  manufacture  iron  were 
made  in  Lynn  or  its  vicinity.  The  colonists  were  suffering 
from  a  scarcity  of  iron  both  for  use  in  the  manufacture 
of  wares  and  tools  and  for  the  erection  of  their  build- 
ings. To  supply  this  demand  furnaces  were  started,  as 
stated.  Later  on  attempts  were  made  at  Braintree,  and 
a  grant  was  secured  for  the  encouragement  of  iron  works 
to  be  set  up  there.  This  grant  was  not  surveyed  and 
laid  out  until  January,  1648.  There  has  been  much  dis- 
cussion whether  the  first  forge  was  set  up  at  Lynn  or  at  First  iron 
Braintree,  but  the  Lynn  historian,  Mr.  Lewis,  insists  Massachusetts, 
that  the  first  works  were  erected  at  that  place,  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  Saugus  River.  This  was  probably  in 
1643  or  1644.  According  to  Governor  Winthrop, 
whose  statements  relative  to  these  works  were  made 
in  1648,  the  production  was  fairly  encouraging,  the 
works  yielding  about  seven  tons  per  week.  The  works 
at  Lynn  involved  much  expense,  and  the  members  of 
the  company  did  not  live  in  the  immediate  vicinity  ;  so 


*  Bog  Ore. — A  variety  of  iron  ore  which  collects  in  low  places,  being  washed 
down  in  a  soluble  form  in  the  waters  which  How  over  rocks  or  sands  contain- 
ing oxide  of  iron,  and  precipitated  in  a  solid  form  as  the  waters  evaporate.  Il 
is  deposited  in  the  bottoms  of  ponds  as  well  as  swamp-.,  and  is  found  in  beds 
now  dry,  above  the  level  at  which  it  must  originally  have  been  collected,  or 
else  these  are  the  product  of  springs  which  have  now  disappeared.  Bo 
contains  phosphorus,  arsenic,  and  other  impurities,  which  greatlj  impau  its 
qualities  for  producing  strong  iron.  The  pig  metal  obtained  from  it,  called 
cold  short,  is  so  brittle  that  it  breaks  to  pie<  es  by  falling  upon  the  hard 
ground;  but  the  foreign  matin  5  whii  h  weaken  it  also  g\\  e 1,,  the  melted 
iron  great  fluidity,  whii  h  causes  it  to  be  in  demand  for  the  manufai  ture  ol  fine 
castings,  the  metal  (lowing  into  the  minutest  cavities  of  the  mold  and  retain- 
ing the  sharp  outlines  desired.  Bog  ores  are  very  easily  converted  into  iron, 
and  when  they  1  an  be  proi  un  d  to  mix  with  other  kind-,  of  ore,  they  prod 
very  beneficial  effect,  both  in  the  running  of  the  furnace  and  in  the  qualitj  of 
the  iron.  For  these  reasons,  as  also  for  the  cheapness  with  which  they  are 
obtained,  it  is  an  object  to  ha\  e  them  at  hand,  though  they  seldom  yield  more 
than  thirty  to  thirty-live  per  cent  of  cast-iron. 


82         Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Iron  enterprise 
at  Lynn,  Mass. 

At  Braintree. 


First  iron 
article. 


Massachusetts 
patents  for 
edged  tools. 


but  little  profit  was  realized.  The  enterprise  was  prose- 
cuted at  different  times,  however,  and  the  works  were 
not  finally  abandoned  until  after  more  than  a  century  from 
their  commencement  had  elapsed.  The  works  at  Brain- 
tree  continued  in  operation  for  a  period  equally  as  long. 

According  to  Mr.  Lewis,  the  author  of  an  excellent  his- 
tory of  Lynn,  Mass.,  one  "Joseph  Jenks  deserves  to  be 
held  in  perpetual  remembrance  in  American  history  as 
being  the  first  founder  who  worked  in  brass  and  iron  on 
the  western  continent.  By  his  hands  the  first  models 
were  made,  and  the  first  castings  taken  of  many  domes- 
tic implements  and  iron  tools.  The  first  article  said  to 
have  been  cast  was  a  small  iron  pot,  capable  of  con- 
taining about  a  quart.  Thomas  Hudson,  of  the  same 
family  with  the  celebrated  Hendrick  Hudson,  was  the 
first  proprietor  of  the  lands  on  the  Saugus  River,  where 
the  iron  foundry  stood.  When  the  forge  was  established 
he  procured  the  first  casting,  which  was  the  famous  old 
iron  pot,  which  he  preserved  as  a  curiosity  and  handed 
down  in  the  family  ever  since."  The  legislature  of 
Massachusetts  granted  Mr.  Jenks  a  patent,  May  6,  1646, 
for  the  making  of  scythes  and  other  edged  tools,  while  in 
October,  1652,  the  same  Mr.  Jenks  was  employed  by  the 
government  of  Massachusetts  to  make  dies  from  which  to 
supply  the  deficiency  of  specie  by  a  silver  coinage. 

Bog  ores  were  found  along  the  coast  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  small  ponds  and  the  marshes  ;  so  furnaces  and  forges 
for  smelting  and  working  up  the  metal  which  was  obtained 
from  the  swamps  and  surrounding  hills  were  quite  com- 
mon in  colonial  days.  Some  of  the  ponds,  especially 
those  in  Middleboro,  Attleboro,  Carver,  Scituate,  Hali- 
fax, and  neighboring  towns,  it  is  said,  supplied  from  one 
hundred  to  six  hundred  tons  of  ore  annually,  the  crude 
iron  contained  in  the  ore  being  about  twenty-five  per 


The  Iron  Industry. 


S3 


cent.  Many  works  sprung  up  wherever  bog  ore  could 
be  found,  and  its  uses  were  applied  in  very  many  direc- 
tions. 

Copper  ore  was  discovered  near  Salem  by  Governor  copper 
Endicottin  1648,  and  some  smelting*  works  were  erected 
by  him  about  1651,  but  the  discovery  proved  of  little 
account. 

The  number  of  iron  works  in  New  England,  according 
to  the  returns  for  1731,  was  six  works  for  hollow- ware 
and  nineteen  forges  or  bloomeriesf  for  bar-iron.  There 
were  no  pig-iron  furnaces  nor  any  refineries  for  pig 
metal,  but  refineries  came  into  use  during  the  next  score 
of  years.  Rolling  and  slitting-mills|  were  in  existence  in 
Hanover,  Milton,  and  Middleboro  in  1750.  The  rolling- 
mills  produced  mostly  nail-rods,  from  which  spikes  and 
large  nails  were  made.  But  these  mills  suffered  under 
the  legislation  of  the  mother-country,  through  the  pro- 
hibition, by  act  of  Parliament,  of  the  erection  of  slitting 
or  rolling-mills,  plating  forges,  or  steel  furnaces. 

A  forge  was  erected  in  Rhode  Island  by  Joseph  Jenks, 
but  this  was  destroyed  in  1675,  during  the  Wampanoag 

*  Smelting. — The  act  of  obtaining  the  metal  from  an  ore  by  a  process  that 
includes  fusion  ;  also,  in  a  more  limited  sense,  to  reduce  by  fusion  in  a  furnace. 

t  Bloomkry. — An  establishment  in  which  wrought-iron  is  made  by  the 
direct  process,  that  is,  from  the  ore  directly,  or  without  having  been  first  intro- 
duced in  the  form  of  cast-iron. 

Furnace. — A  structure  in  which  to  make  and  maintain  a  fire  the  heat  of 
which  is  to  be  used  for  some  mechanical  purpose,  as  the  melting  of  ores  or 
metals,  etc.;  specifically,  a  structure  of  considerable  size  built  of  stone  or 
brick,  used  for  some  purpose  connected  with  the  operation  of  smelting  metals. 
Furnaces  are  constructed  in  a  great  variety  of  ways,  according  to  the  differ- 
ent purposes  to  which  they  are  to  be  applied. 

Forge.— An  open  fireplace  or  furnace,  fitted  with  a  bellows  or  some  other 
appliance  for  obtaining  a  blast  to  urge  the  fire,  and  serving  to  heat  metal  in 
order  that  it  may  be  hammered  into  form.  Forges  differ  from  foundries  and 
blast  furnaces  in  their  products  being  articles  of  wrought-iron,  while  those  of 
the  latter  are  castings. 

touNDRY. — A  manufacturing  establishment  in  which  articles  are  cast  from 
metal. 

X  Slitting-mill.— A  mill  in  which  iron  bars  or  plates  arc  slit  into  nail-rods, 
etc. 

Rolling-mii.i..— A  mefal-working  establishment  using,  in  connection  with 
heating-furnaces,  systems  of  steel  rollers  for  forming  metal  into  sheets,  bars, 
rods,  or  wires. 


Iron  works  in 
New  England. 


In  Rhode 
Island. 


84         Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


Manufactures 
of  iron  in 
Rhode  Island. 


Attempts  to 
make  cut  nails. 


war.  Several  other  iron  works,  as  well  as  some  other 
manufacturing  enterprises,  were  destroyed  during  the 
course  of  this  war,  greatly  reducing  the  resources  of  the 
colonists  in  Rhode  Island. 

The  bog  ore  which  supplied  the  furnaces  was  not  of  a 
quality  sufficiently  tough  for  the  production  of  good 
nails,  spikes,  and  tools. 

The  shipbuilding  around  Plymouth  and  Narragansett 
Bay  increased  the  demand  for  all  kinds  of  iron  products  ; 
so  the  colonists  were  stimulated  in  their  efforts  to  dis- 
cover ores  in  such  abundance  that  this  demand  might  be 
supplied. 

Rhode  Island  made  considerable  progress  in  this  direc- 
tion, for  toward  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  the 
manufactures  of  iron,  which  at  that  time  included  very 
many  articles,  such  as  bar*  and  sheet-iron  steel,  nail-rods, 
and  nails,  farming  implements,  stoves,  pots,  and  other 
castings,  and  household  utensils,  iron-work  for  ships, 
anchors,  and  bells,  were  important  products  of  industry. 
Slitting  and  rolling-mills,  anchor  forges,  nail-cutting 
machines,  and  several  mills  were  erected  at  Pawtucket 
Falls,  some  of  which  were  carried  on  by  water.  There 
were  in  operation  toward  the  close  of  the  century  screw- 
cutting  machines  and  hollow-ware  furnaces.  The  militia 
companies  of  the  colony  were  supplied  with  muskets  as 
early  as  1775  by  Stephen  Jenks  of  North  Providence. 
One  Jeremiah  Wilkinson,  at  Cumberland,  was  the  first 
to  make  the  attempt  to  cut  small  nails  from  sheet-iron. 
In  this  Wilkinson  used  old  Spanish  hoops.     Wilkinson 


*  Pig-iron. — Iron  in  oblong  masses,  or  pigs,  as  turned  out  by  the  smelting 
furnace  ;  so  called  because  the  molten  metal  is  run  into  a  long  mass  with 
shorter  ones  attached  to  it  at  right  angles,  the  long  one  being  called  the  sow, 
and  the  shorter  ones  the  pigs. 

Bar-iron. — Wrought-iron  rolled  into  the  form  of  bars. 

Rolled-iron. — Iron  passed  between  steel  rolls  of  different  sizes,  according 
to  the  shape  desired  to  be  imparted  to  the  metal. 


The  Iron  Industry.  85 

also  made  pins  and  needles  from  wire  which  he  himself 
drew  out.  These  articles  were  very  scarce  and  ex- 
pensive. If,  therefore,  they  could  be  made  by  the  col- 
onists and  sold  without  the  intermediary  expenses  of 
transportation  from  the  old  country  a  good  market  could 
be  secured. 

The  colony  of  Connecticut  at  a  very  early  date  (1651 ) 
encouraged  the  discovery  of  minerals  within  its  territory,  iron  in 
for  it  is  recorded  that  on  motion  of  Mr.  Winthrop,  who 
was  the  prime  mover  in  the  organization  of  the  company 
which  undertook  the  first  iron  works  at  Lynn  and  Brain- 
tree  in  1643,  or  thereabouts,  and  who  had  received  a 
grant  for  a  settlement  and  iron  works  in  Connecticut, 
the  Assembly  of  Connecticut  passed  an  encouraging  Encourage- 
act  which  declared  that,  '  'whereas,  in  this  rocky  country  Connecticut  y 
among  these  mountainous  and  rocky  hills  there  are 
probabilities  of  mines  of  metal,  the  discovery  of  which 
may  be  of  great  advantages  to  the  country  in  raising  a 
staple  commodity  ;  and  whereas,  John  Winthrop,  Esq. , 
doth  intend  to  be  at  charges  and  adventure  for  the 
search  and  discovery  of  such  mines  and  minerals,  for  the 
encouragement  thereof,  and  of  any  that  shall  adventure 
with  the  said  John  Winthrop,  Esq.,  in  the  said  business, 
it  is  therefore  ordered,"  etc.  It  granted  to  him,  his 
heirs,  associates,  partners,  and  assigns,  forever,  the 
lands,  timber,  and  water  within  two  or  three  miles  of 
any  mines  of  lead,  copper,  tin,  antimony,  vitriol,  black 
lead,  alum,  stone,  salt,  or  salt  springs  he  might  discover, 
if  he  should  set  up  any  works  for  digging,  washing, 
melting,  or  other  operations  required  for  such  metals  or 
minerals,  provided  it  was  not  in  a  place  already  occupied. 
The  government  of  Connecticut  again,  in  1663,  offered 
encouragement  to  any  one  who  would  undertake  the 
discovery  of  mines  and  minerals,  and  the  act  of  1663 


86        Industrial  Evolution  of  the   U?iitcd  States. 


First  attempt 
at  the  produc- 
tion of  steel  in 
the  Connecti- 
cut colonies. 


Discovery  of 
copper  in 
Connecticut. 


was  renewed  in  1672,  but  the  records  do  not  give  any- 
very  definite  information  as  to  the  success  which  re- 
warded either  the  research  of  Mr.  Winthrop  or  that 
which  resulted  under  the  acts  of  1663  and  1672.  This 
encouragement  was  offered  by  the  General  Court. 

Prior  to  this  the  Assembly  of  New  Haven,  seven  years 
before  the  date  of  the  charter  of  Mr.  Winthrop,  gave 
encouragement  to  the  manufacture  of  iron  in  Connecti- 
cut, for  on  the  30th  of  May,  1655,  it  was  ordered, 
"that  if  an  iron  worke  goe  on  within  any  part  of  this 
jurisdiction,  the  persons  and  estates  constantly  and  onely 
imployed  in  that  worke  shall  be  free  from  paying  rates, ' ' 
and  the  same  year  an  order  was  passed  concerning  the 
manufacture  of  steel.  This  is  believed  to  have  been  the 
first  attempt  at  the  production  of  steel  in  the  Connecti- 
cut colonies.  The  General  Court  acquiesced  in  these 
privileges,  and  in  the  following  May  exempted  the  per- 
sons from  rates  for  ten  years  and  ordered  that  the  prop- 
erty invested  in  the  manufacture  of  steel  should  not  be 
attached  for  the  individual  debts  of  those  involved  in 
the  undertaking,  at  least  to  such  an  extent  as  to  hinder 
the  work  or  damage  the  other  proprietors.  So  iron 
works  grew  in  the  Connecticut  colonies,  the  government 
thereof  making  provision  for  the  encouragement,  through 
exemptions  and  otherwise,  of  the  development  of  the 
industry.  Slitting-mills  were  erected  at  Stony  Brook  as 
early  as  1 7 16,  and  these  were  probably  the  first  works 
erected  subsequent  to  those  just  recorded. 

The  efforts  to  obtain  ores  led  to  the  discovery  in 
Connecticut  of  two  deposits  of  copper,  which  it  was 
confidently  hoped  would  give  a  profitable  yield.  One 
of  these  copper  mines  was  found  at  Simsbury,  now  the 
town  of  Granby,  and  after  some  struggle  was  success- 
fully worked  until  1773.     This  mine  furnished  the  ore 


The  Iron  Industry.  87 

for  some  copper  coins  which  were  struck  in  1737  and 
1739,  by  Samuel  Higley,  a  blacksmith  of  Granby.  These 
coins  were  current  for  many  years,  and  were  known  as 
the  ' '  Granby  coppers. ' ' 

Mr.  Higley,  in  May,  1728,  was  granted  a  patent  for 
ten  years  for  making  steel,  the  condition  of  the  patent 
being  that  the  petitioner  should  improve  the  art  within 
two  years  after  the  date  of  the  act  of  the  legislature 
granting  the  patent. 

Bells  were  cast  in  a  foundry  for  that  purpose,  at  New  Bells. 
Haven,  in  1736,  by  Abel  Parmlee. 

Connecticut's  most  valuable  deposits  of  iron  ore  were 
found  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  state,  bordering 
on  New  York  and  Massachusetts,  Sharon,  Salisbury, 
and  Kent  being  the  most  favored  townships. 

As  late  as  1740  Mr.  Philip  Livingston  of  Albany, 
N.  Y. ,  who  had  received  a  grant  of  a  large  tract  of  one  v.'.rk!" 
hundred  acres,  and  who  had  set  up  a  furnace  or  bloom- 
ery  at  Limerock,  where  pig-iron,  common  iron  kettles, 
etc.,  were  made  as  early  as  1736,  erected  iron  works  at 
Ancram,  in  Columbia  County,  New  York,  some  twelve 
miles  northwest  of  the  Connecticut  mines,  and  in  1762  a 
blast  furnace  was  built  at  the  outlet  of  Wanscopommuc 
Lake,  in  Salisbury. 

With  these  beginnings  the  manufacture  of  iron  in 
Connecticut  progressed  with  good  results,  so  that  at  the  ,v™fmanufac- 
close  of  the  colonial  period  Connecticut  was  doing  fairly  Connecticut. 
well  in  that  industry,  but  in  addition  to  iron  and  its  man- 
ufactures steel  is  said  to  have  been  made  by  several 
parties.  Many  bloomeries  and  small  works  for  a  variety 
of  manufactures  in  iron  were  established  on  the  small 
streams  traversing  Connecticut,  the  forges  in  the  south- 
ern part  of  the  state  being  chiefly  supplied  with  bog  ore, 
while  in  the  interior  other  kinds  of  ores,  especially  the 


88         Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


Place  of  the 
first  manufac- 
ture of  tinware. 


First  iron 
works  in  New 
York. 


Manufacture  of 
anchors. 

Cannon. 
Bar-iron. 
Steel. 


hematitic  ores  found  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the 
state,  gave  an  impulse  to  trade.  To  this  day  Connecti- 
cut is  noted  for  the  extent  and  variety  of  its  manufac- 
tures of  metal  small  wares. 

Berlin,  in  Hartford  County,  Connecticut,  is  stated  to 
be  the  first  place  in  this  country  where  tinware  was  man- 
ufactured. This  was  in  1770,  by  Edward  Patterson. 
Many  of  the  industries  which  make  Connecticut  what  it 
is  were  started  in  a  small  way  during  the  latter  part  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  but,  as  already  intimated,  they 
related  very  largely  to  the  manufacture  of  metal  wares. 

The  Dutch  colonizers  of  New  York  made  no  success- 
ful attempts  at  the  manufacture  of  iron,  although  they 
did  stimulate  prospecting  for  iron  and  other  ores.  The 
first  iron  works  in  New  York  were  erected,  as  already 
stated,  by  Mr.  Philip  Livingston,  at  Ancram,  who 
obtained  his  ore  largely  from  Salisbury,  Conn.  A 
company  of  German  miners,  who  came  to  this  country 
between  1730  and  1750,  were  among  the  earliest  ex- 
plorers of  the  metalliferous  regions  of  the  highlands. 
They  made  many  excavations  and,  it  is  said,  set  up  some 
iron  works  in  Orange  County  during  the  period  named, 
for  in  1750  Governor  Clinton,  in  reporting  to  Parlia- 
ment, stated  that  there  was  a  plating-forge  with  a  tilt- 
hammer  at  Wawaganda,  in  Orange  County.  It  was  the 
only  mill  of  that  kind  in  the  province,  and  had  been 
built  four  or  five  years  before  the  year  named.  In  the 
same  year  some  works  were  built  in  the  town  of  Monroe, 
for  the  manufacture  of  anchors.  These  anchors  were 
made  from  the  iron  ore  found  at  the  south  end  of 
Sterling  Mountain,  and  the  mines  there  became  very 
productive.  The  metal  was  strong,  and  was  afterward 
largely  used  for  the  manufacture  of  cannon,  bar-iron, 
steel,  etc. 


The  Iron  Industry.  89 

Mr.  Peter  Townsend  was  the  first  man  to  produce  First  steel  pro- 
steel  in  the  province  of  New  York.  This  he  made  first  York! '" 
from  pig  and  afterward  from  bar-iron,  using  the  German 
method.  He  became  the  proprietor  of  the  Sterling 
works  before  the  Revolution.  It  was  from  the  ore  from 
the  mines  which  supplied  the  Sterling  works  that  the 
enormous  iron  chain  which  was  used  in   1778  as  an  ob-   ,        .   . 

'  '  Iron  chain 

struction  across  the  Hudson  at  West  Point  was  forced,    across  the 

0  Hudson. 

This  chain  weighed  186  tons,  and  under  the  direction  of 
Col.  Timothy  Pickering,  one  of  Washington's  staff,  was 
produced  and  delivered  in  six  weeks.  According  to  all 
accounts  this  immense  chain  remained  unbroken  through- 
out the  Revolution,  and  some  of  its  links  are  preserved 
among  the  revolutionary  relics  at  Newburgh.  These 
works  became  historic  in  their  influence  upon  the  prog- 
ress of  the  war.  Other  works  were  erected  by  Mr. 
Townsend  and  his  associates  in  1777.  These  men  also 
owned  other  mines,  especially  the  Long  mine,  which 
was  discovered  in  1761  by  one  David  Jones. 

Governor  De  Lancey,  in  obedience  to  a  royal  procla- 
mation, in  1757  sent  to  England  an  account  of  the  iron 
works  of  the  province  of  New  York  as  they  existed 
from  1749  to  1756.  In  this  account  is  a  statement 
furnished  by  Robert  Livingston,  Jr.,  son  of  the  first  pro- 
prietor of  the  Ancram  iron  works,  which  have  been  men- 
tioned. This  statement  indicates  that  these  works  were 
the  only  ones  in  the  province  then  carried  on.  Ac- 
cording to  this  account  the  amount  of  iron  made  at 
Ancram  for  the  years  named  was  over  3,300  tons. 

Besides  the  Livingston  works  iron  manufactories 
sprung  up  at  Copake,  Hudson,  and  other  places.  Will- 
iam Hawkshurst  advertised  in  1765  that  he  had  erected  pig-iron 
a  refinery  and  great  hammer  for  refining  the  Sterling 
pig-iron  into  bars,  and  he  announced   that  flat,  square, 


refinery. 


of  iron  industry. 


90        Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 

and  bar-iron,  cart,  wagon,  chair,  and  sleigh-tire,  mill 
spindles,  anvils,  pots,  kettles,  forged  plates,  weights, 
and  many  other  articles  could  be  supplied  to  his  cus- 
tomers in  New  York. 

Encouragement  Societies  were  formed  at  this  time  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  the  iron  industry,  premiums  being  offered  for 
products  of  skill.  Among  these  was  the  Society  of 
Arts,  which  opened  a  fair  for  the  sale  of  domestic  prod- 
ucts. Other  portions  of  the  province  of  New  York, 
under  the  demands  which  were  stimulated  by  the  in- 
creasing population,  the  necessities  of  building  both 
ships  and  houses,  and  other  things,  developed  the  iron 
industry  to  a  considerable  extent,  not  only  supplying  the 
home  demand,  but  even  exporting  to  some  extent,  the 
shipments  of  iron  from  the  port  of  New  York  amount- 
ing to  2,400  tons  of  pig  and  750  tons  of  bar-iron  in 
1775  ;  but  it  was  not  until  after  the  Revolution  that  the 
industry  assumed  great  proportions.  Then  in  the  north- 
ern part  of  the  state  iron  ore  -was  discovered  and  util- 
ized and  the  industry  firmly  established,  although  the 
general  progress  in  the  state,  so  far  as  the  iron  industry 
was  concerned,  did  not  equal  in  the  last  century  that  in 
New  England  and  Pennsylvania. 

The  manufacture  of  guns  was  carried  on  to  some  ex- 

ofguns.  tent,   muskets   and  rifles   being   made   in    considerable 

quantities  for  the  Indian  trade,  while  the  armories  at 
Albany  were  employed  by  the  government  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Revolution. 

It  is  quite  impossible  to  give  any  precise  date  for  the 

jersey.  erection  of  the  first  iron  works  in  New  Jersey,  but  the 

earliest  in  that  province  belonged  to  Col.  Lewis  Morris, 
whose  brother  Richard  and  himself  were  the  ancestors  of 
the  Morris  family  so  well  known  in  the  early  history  of 
this  country  ;  but  near  1655  one  Henry  Leonard,  who 


Manufacture 


Iron  in  New 


The  Iron  Industry.  91 

had  worked  in  the  first  iron  works  in  the  country,  those  at 
Lynn,  Mass.,  which  have  already  been  described,  came 
to  Jersey,  and  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  to  set  up  a 
forge  in  that  province.  It  was  not  until  the  next  cen- 
tury, however,  that  much  progress  was  made,  during 
which,  and  prior  to  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  many 
important  works  were  established,  some  of  which  were 
erected  at  the  very  close  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
When  the  eighteenth  century  closed  ten  mines  were  being 
worked  within  the  limits  of  Morris  County  alone,  which  iron  works  in 

1  r  1  ii-  1 11.     •  •,,         Morris  County, 

contained  two  furnaces,  three  rolling  and  shtting-mills,  n.j. 
and  about  forty  forges  with  two  to  four  fires  each.  Many 
of  the  counties  during  the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth 
century  found  ore  in  fair  abundance,  and  of  course  forges 
were  erected  for  working  it.  The  village  of  Troy,  in 
Hanover  County,  had  a  bloomery  forge,  built  in  1743, 
while  the  Beach  Glen  bloomery,  three  miles  north  of  the 
village  of  Rockaway,  was  built  in  1760.  A  little  above 
Milton  the  Russia  and  Hopewell  bloomeries  were  set  up, 
the  former  in  1775  and  the  latter  in  1780.  Randolph, 
Mount  Hope,  Morristown,  Boonton,  Dover,  and  other 
towns,  have  for  a  very  long  time  been  busy  in  the  manu- 
facture of  iron.  Iron  works  were  erected  at  an  early 
date  on  the  Ringwood  and  Pequannock  Rivers,  and  a 
charcoal  furnace  was  erected  prior  to  1770  on  the  Morris  charcoal 
County  side  of  the  Pequannock.  So  at  other  places 
Jersey  did  her  share  in  the  early  evolution  of  the  iron 
industry,  and  to  such  an  extent  as  to  place  her  on  a  very 
firm  basis  when  the  new  era  after  the  adoption  of  the 
constitution  was  opened. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

the  iron  industry  (Concluded). 

The  great  iron-producing  state  of  Pennsylvania  did 
^on  in  not  develop  her  mineral  resources  at  as  early  a  period  as 

Pennsy  vama.  ^^  more  northern  neighbors,  yet  at  an  early  time  her 
anthracite  and  bituminous  coal  gave  her  great  advan- 
tages in  the  production  of  iron  ;  in  fact,  while  accounts 
appear  of  the  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  iron  ores 
during  the  seventeenth  century,  there  does  not  appear 
to  be  any  distinct  account  of  the  erection  of  forges  or 
furnaces  during  that  century.  Mr.  Swank,  in  his  work, 
"History  of  the  Manufacture  of  Iron  in  All  Ages" 
(and  he  is  corroborated  by  Bishop  and  others),  states 
that  the  settlers  on  the  Delaware,  under  the  successive 
administrations  of  the  Swedes  and  Dutch  and  the  Duke 
No  efforts  prior  cf  York,  appear  to  have  made  no  effort  to  manufacture 

to  1682.  .  . 

iron  in  any  form  down  to  1682.  From  Mr.  Swank's 
work  and  others  it  is  learned  that  in  the  ' '  Journal  of  a 
Voyage  to  New  York,"  in  1679  and  1680,  by  Jasper 
Dankers  and  Peter  Sluyter,  who  then  visited  the  Swedish 
and  other  settlements  on  the  Delaware,  it  is  expressly 
declared  that  iron  ore  had  not  been  seen  by  them  on 
Tinicum  Island  or  elsewhere  in  the  neighborhood.  Dan- 
kers states  :  "  As  to  there  being  a  mine  of  iron  ore  upon 
it,  I  have  not  seen  any  upon  that  island,  or  elsewhere  ;  and 
if  it  were  so  it  is  of  no  great  importance,  for  such  mines  are 
so  common  in  this  country  that  little  account  is  made  of 
them."   But  under  William  Pennthe  manufacture  of  iron 

92 


The  Iro?i  Industry.  93 

in  Pennsylvania  had  its  beginning.  In  a  letter  written  by 
him  to  Lord  Keeper  North,  in  July,  1683,  he  mentions 
the  existence  of  "  mineral,  of  copper,  and  iron  in  divers 
places"  in  Pennsylvania,  and  in  1685,  speaking  of  the 
prospects  of  trade,  he  says  :  "I  might  add  iron,  be- 
cause there  is  much  of  it."  It  is  probably  true  that 
Perm  had  iron  works  at  Hawkhurst  and  other  places  in 
Sussex,  but  it  is  in  1692  that  the  first  mention  of  iron 
having  been  made  in  Pennsylvania  is  found,  although 
this  is  only  a  mention.  *  The  first  authentic  account, 
however,  of  the  first  attempt  which  was  successfully  car-   First  attempt  to 

.     .  .  .   .  r  .  _  ,  .        ,  make  iron  in 

ried  out  in  the  making  ot  iron  in  Pennsylvania  shows  Pennsylvania, 
that  it  was  in  17 16.  This  was  a  bloomery  forge,  which 
was  constructed  by  Thomas  Rutter,  on  Manatawny 
Creek,  in  Berks  County.  The  next  iron  enterprise  in 
Pennsylvania  was  undertaken  by  Samuel  Nutt,  an  Eng- 
lish Quaker,  who,  in  1 7 1 7,  about  the  same  time  that 
Rutter  built  his  forge  on  the  Manatawny,  erected  one  on 
French  Creek,  in  the  northern  part  of  Chester  County. 
Accounts  state  that  as  early  as  17 19  the  iron  at  this  point 
promised  well. 

Mr.  Swank  gives  the  third  iron  enterprise  in  Pennsyl- 
vania as  the  Colebrookdale  furnace,  erected  about  1720 
by  a  company  of  which  Thomas  Rutter,  who  has 
already  been  mentioned,  was  the  principal  member. 
This  furnace  was  located  on  Ironstone  Creek,  in 
Colebrookdale  township,  Berks  County,  the  site  of 
which  is  marked  at  the  present  time  by  cinder.  By 
1728  the  iron  industry  of  Pennsylvania  had  developed  to 
such  an  extent  that  it  was  really  on  a  firm  foundation, 
for  the  colony  exported  274  tons  of  pig-iron  to  the  old  f^°ns  of  iron 
country  in  1728-29.     After  this  date  forges  and  furnaces   rc""s>lvama- 


•See  "History  of  the  Manufacture  of  Iron  in  All  Ages,"  by  James  \f 
Swank. 


94        Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Iron  west  of  the 
Susquehanna. 


Nucleus  of  the 
Carlisle  iron 
works. 


Manufacture  of 
nails  in 
Pennsylvania. 


Manufacture  of 
small  arms  in 
Pennsylvania. 


were  erected  rapidly  in  the  Schuylkill  valley  and  other 
eastern  portions  of  Pennsylvania.  The  history  of  their 
erection,  the  struggles  of  their  progress,  their  periods  of 
success  and  adversity,  are  all  connected  with  the  de- 
velopment of  the  state. 

The  iron  industry  of  Pennsylvania  crossed  the  Susque- 
hanna at  a  very  early  date,  yet  not  early  enough  to  bring 
the  great  development  into  the  colonial  period,  only  a 
few  forges  and  bloomeries  having  been  erected  in  the 
western  part  of  the  state  prior  to  the  Revolution.  There 
was  a  bloomery  in  York  County  in  1756  and  a  forge  on 
Codorus  Creek  in  1770.  A  furnace  and  forge  were  built 
at  Boiling  Springs,  in  Cumberland  County,  a  little  after 
1 762.  This  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  Carlisle  iron  works. 
A  forge  is  supposed  to  have  been  built  at  Mount  Holly 
in  1756,  and  another  in  the  same  county  in  1770.  These 
are  the  principal  works  that  were  erected  west  of  the 
Susquehanna  during  the  colonial  period. 

The  iron  manufactures  of  the  state  took  many  forms. 
Furnaces,  foundries,  rolling-mills,  nail  works,  wire-mills, 
and  manufactories  of  metallic  and  other  materials  had  a 
rapid  growth.  The  amount  of  iron  exported  from  Phila- 
delphia in  the  year  ending  April  5,  1766,  was  882  tons 
of  bar,  worth  ^26  per  ton,  and  813  tons  of  pig-iron, 
worth  £7  and  10  shillings  per  ton.  In  the  three  years 
preceding  the  war,  ending  January  5,  1774,  the  exports 
were  respectively  2,358,  2,205,  and  1,564  tons. 

The  manufacture  of  nails  was  begun  at  an  early  date 
in  Pennsylvania,  certainly  as  early  as  1731,  while  anchors 
were  made  as  early  as  1755.  Works  for  drawing  wire 
were  erected  in  1779. 

Small  arms  were  manufactured  in  Philadelphia,  Lan- 
caster, and  other  places.  The  mechanics  of  Philadelphia 
acquired  a  reputation  for  inventive  skill,  as  evidenced  in 


Iron  in 
Delaware. 


The  Iron  Industry.  95 

the  construction  of  machines  and  instruments.  This  in- 
ventive skill  was  undoubtedly  stimulated  largely  by  the 
ease  with  which  ore  could  be  secured  for  the  manufacture 
of  iron.  One  of  the  earliest  evidences  of  this  inventive 
development  is  found  in  the  employment  of  a  fire-engine, 
which  was  recommended  by  Samuel  Preston,  one  of  the 
early  mayors  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  This  was  in 
December,  17 19. 

The  first  experimental  steam-engine  built  in  America   Experimental 
was  made  in  Philadelphia  in  1773,  by  Christopher  Colles.    steam-engin6 

Carding   machines,  cotton-gins,    spinning-jennies,  and 
other  textile  machinery,  were  made  in  Philadelphia,  while  Carding 

.  1111  machines. 

many  other  valuable  inventions  were  developed  and  ap- 
plied practically  by  the  mechanics  of  that  city. 

There  do  not  appear  to  have  been  works  of  any  extent  Ir 
erected  in  Delaware  during  the  seventeenth  century,  but 
as  early  as  1726  mention  is  made  in  some  accounts  of 
Governor  Keith,  of  Pennsylvania,  being  the  proprietor 
of  iron  works  in  Newcastle  County.  Mr.  Bishop  thinks 
they  were  probably  at  Newcastle,  the  oldest  town  in  the 
state,  or  on  White  Clay  Creek  or  its  branches.  In  the 
latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  a  rolling  and  slit- 
ting-mill  was  erected  at  Wilmington,  a  place  which  had 
achieved  a  good  deal  of  importance  as  one  of  the  active 
centers  of  colonial  industry,  but  its  development  in  iron, 
whatever  it  has,  took  place  after  the  colonial  period 
closed. 

Extensive  deposits  of  bog-iron  ore  were  found  through- 
out the  whole  eastern  shore  of  Maryland,  and  other 
kinds  of  ore  were  found  in  other  parts  of  the  state. 
These  ores  were  described  as  early  as  1648  and  their  uses 
and  advantages  understood  by  the  English  settlers  of 
Maryland,  but  the  mechanic  arts  did  not  find  a  home  in 
that  state  at  a  very  early  date,  notwithstanding  the  legis- 


g6        Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Legislative 
uragement. 


Cannon  cast  in 
Maryland. 


Works  stimu- 
lated  l)_v  the 
war. 


lature  in  1681  endeavored  to  turn  the  industry  of  the 
colony  into  that  channel.  The  manufacture  of  iron 
probably  commenced  not  many  years  after  this  legislative 
encouragement,  although  the  earliest  forges  of  which 
any  very  positive  mention  is  made  were  found  at  Prin- 
cipio,  at  the  head  of  Chesapeake  Bay.  This  was  known 
to  have  been  in  operation  prior  to  1722.  A  rolling-mill, 
which  was  in  operation  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution, 
was  erected  in  the  colony  as  early  as  1742.  This  was  on 
Big  Elk  River,  five  miles  north  of  Elkton.  Other  works 
were  built  at  various  times,  at  somewhat  long  intervals, 
during  the  colonial  period,  a  furnace  being  erected  in 
1734  at  the  head  of  Back  River.  A  slitting-mill  was 
also  set  up  in  the  same  vicinity  in  1778.  Cannon  were 
cast  in  Maryland  as  early  as  1780,  at  a  furnace  called 
Northampton.  This  was  situated  about  ten  miles  west 
of  Baltimore.  The  Maryland  records  have  it  that  this 
particular  furnace  ran  seventy  years  upon  a  single  de- 
posit of  brown  ore.  Other  furnaces  and  some  forges 
were  erected  in  Anne  Arundel  County  at  as  early  a  date 
as  those  just  mentioned,  and  other  counties  had  forges 
and  slitting-mills  built  in  the  last  century. 

The  preparations  to  provide  for  the  war  which  were 
made  in  the  colonies  in  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1776 
stimulated  the  furnaces  and  gun-shops,  wherever  they 
wire,  and  the  forges  and  the  slitting  and  plating-mills 
and  other  iron  works  of  the  colonies  which  had  survived 
the  parliamentary  restrictions  of  1750  found  plenty  of 
work.  Maryland  had  eight  furnaces  and  nine  forges  at 
that  time,  that  colony,  with  Virginia,  exporting  over 
2,500  tons  of  pig-iron  yearly  to  England  ;  so  the  iron 
industry  of  Maryland  was  quite  an  important  one  when 
the  war  broke  out.  On  the  1st  of  July,  1776,  the  Mary- 
land Convention  authorized  the  Council  of  Safety  to  lend 


The  Iron  Industry.  97 

the  proprietors  of  an  air  furnace  in  Frederick  County 
the  sum  of  ^2,000  to  encourage  them  to  prosecute  their 
cannon  foundry,  and  it  added  in  the  authorization, 
"with  spirit  and  diligence."  Small  cannon  and  swivels 
were  ordered  in  the  same  year  and  month  from  the  fur- 
nace and  iron  works  in  Baltimore  County.  The  pig-iron 
of  Ridgely's  furnace  had  the  reputation   of  beinir  the   Reputation  of 

1  j     •        1  ,    t  1  r*r  ,  P'g-iron  in 

best  made  in  the  state,  and  the  gun-makers  of  Massachu-    Maryland. 

setts  purchased  some  of  it  at  ^10  per  ton.  At  the  close  Number  of 
of  the  last  century  there  were  probably  seventeen  or  oTfhe  seven-* 
eighteen  forges  for  the  manufacture  of  iron  in  Maryland, 
and  these  works  existed  in  six  counties  of  the  state  ;  but 
the  western  part  of  the  state  did  not  develop  the  industry 
until  after  the  close  of  the  colonial  period.  Allegany 
County,  which  now  has  some  of  the  richest  mineral  and 
iron-producing  localities  in  the  state,  was  not  developed 
until  later. 

In  all  probability  the  very  first  attempt  to  manufacture  First  attempt 
iron  on  the  American  continent  was  made  in  Virginia,  as  ft\  vtarfnku108 
early  as  1619.  Brief  mention  of  this  has  been  made  and 
of  the  disastrous  termination  of  the  enterprise  through 
the  massacre  of  the  operatives  by  the  Indians.  No  other 
attempt  was  made  during  the  seventeenth  century,  and 
it  was  not  until  1715  that  the  iron  industry  was  practi- 
cally commenced  on  any  permanent  basis  in  that  colony. 
Mr.  Bishop  and  other  writers  give  an  account  of  a  visit 
of  Col.  William  Byrd  to  the  iron  mines  and  furnaces  of 
Col.  Alexander  Spottswood,  on  the  Rappahannock. 
Colonel  Byrd  stated  that  he  was  informed  by  Colonel 
Spottswood  that  he  was  not  only  the  first  in  this  country, 
but  the  first  in  North  America,  who  had  erected  a  regu- 
lar furnace,  and  that  they  had  run  altogether  upon 
bloomeries  in  New  England  and  Pennsylvania  till  his  ex- 
ample had  made  them  attempt  greater  works.     Other 


98         Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 

accounts  would  lead  to  the  supposition  that  these  works 
were  erected  prior  to  1724.  At  the  time  of  Colonel 
Byrd's  visit  there  were,  according-  to  his  host's  state- 
ment, four  furnaces  in  Virginia,  but  there  was  no  forge. 
Early  in  the  last  century  deposits  of  brown  hematite 
iron  ore  appear  to  have  been  opened  in  several  places  in 
the  great  limestone  valley  of  Virginia,  west  of  the  Blue 
Ridge.  Pine  forge,  three  and  a  half  miles  north  of 
Newmarket,  in  Shenandoah  County,  was  built,  according 
to  a  statement  in  Lesley's  "  Iron  Manufacturer's  Guide," 
in  1725,  and  there  was  also  one  erected  in  1757,  on 
Mossy  Creek,  fifteen  miles  north  of  Staunton,  while  a 
furnace  was  built  not  far  from  the  forge  in  1760.  From 
a  work  entitled  "  Notes  on  Virginia,"  published  in  1781, 
there  is  obtained  a  very  good  idea  of  the  condition  of 
the  iron  works  of  Virginia  at  that  time  : 

The  mines  of  iron  worked  at  present  are  Callaway's,  Ross's, 
and  Ballandine's  on  the  south  side  of  James  River,  Old's  on  the 
north  side  in  Albemarle,  Miller's  in  Augusta,  and  Zane's  in 
Frederick.  These  two  last  are  in  the  valley  between  the  Blue 
Ridge  and  North  Mountain.  Callaway's,  Ross's,  Miller's,  and 
Zane's  make  about  150  tons  of  bar-iron  each  in  the  year  ;  Ross's 
makes  also  about  1,600  tons  of  pig-iron  annually  ;  Ballandine's, 
1,000  ;  Callaway's,  Miller's,  and  Zane's,  about  600  each.  Besides 
these,  a  forge  of  Mr.  Hunter's  at  Fredericksburg  makes  about 
300  tons  a  year  of  bar-iron  from  pigs  imported  from  Maryland  ; 
and  Taylor's  forge,  on  Neapsco  of  Potomac,  works  in  the  same 
way,  but  to  what  extent  I  am  not  informed.  The  undertakers 
of  iron  in  other  places  are  numerous,  and  dispersed  through  all 
the  middle  country.  The  toughness  of  the  cast-iron  of  Ross's 
and  Zane's  furnaces  is  remarkable.  Pots  and  other  utensils 
cast  thinner  than  usual  of  this  iron  may  be  safely  thrown  into 
or  out  of  the  wagons  in  which  they  are  transported.  Salt  pans 
made  of  the  same,  and  no  longer  wanted  for  that  purpose,  can- 
not be  broken  up  in  order  to  be  melted  again  unless  previously 
drilled  in  many  parts. 

The  development  in  the  colony  brought  many  othe" 


Development  of 


The  Iron  Industry.  99 

furnaces  and  forges  into  existence  before  the  close  of  the 

century,  Virginia  taking  its  place  in  the  development,    w^nk.ksin 

and  during  the  Revolution  performing  its  part  in  the 
manufacture  of  material  necessary  for  the  conduct  of  the 
war.  The  Assembly  of  Virginia  at  different  times  en- 
couraged the  erection  of  mills  and  ironworks;  SO  that  Encouragement 
when  the  Revolution  stimulated  the  southern  colonies  to 
pay  increased  attention  to  manufactures  Virginia  was 
ready  to  adopt  new  measures.  Among  other  features  a 
resolution  was  passed  in  August,  1775,  providing  "that 
in  case  the  British  Ministry  attempts  to  enforce  the  Act 
of  Parliament  preventing  the  erection  of  plating  and 
slitting-mills  in  America,  the  Convention  will  recompense 
to  the  proprietors  of  the  first  two  of  such  mills  as  shall 
be  finished  and  set  to  work  in  this  Colony  all  losses  they 
may  respectively  sustain  in  consequence  of  such  en- 
deavours of  Administration." 

The  Virginians  were  no  whit  behind  the  other  col- 
onists in  their  zeal  to  provide  the  troops  which  the  Con- 
tinental Congress  was  called  upon  to  supply,  although 
Virginia  depended  more  upon  her  own  resources  for  the 
cannon  and  small  arms  necessary  to  provide  her  troops 
than  did  some  of  the  others. 

North  Carolina  has  an  abundance  of  good  ore  in  some 
parts,  and  it  was  first  discovered  by  the  colony  sent  out 
by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  but  no  great  progress  was  made  Carolina- 
in  the  erection  of  furnaces  or  forges  until  late  in  the  col- 
onial period,  although  it  is  known  that  several  iron 
works  were  in  operation  before  the  Revolution.  They 
were  on  the  belts  of  the  middle  and  western  districts, 
but  just  where  they  were  established  is  not  quite  clear  ; 
yet  they  must  have  existed  some  years  prior  to  the  war, 
as  there  was  exported  to  England  as  early  as  1728-29  a 
small  quantity  of  pig-iron — about  one  ton — and  in  1734 


[ron  in  North 


ioo      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


another  small  shipment  was  made.  But  no  authentic 
accounts  of  the  location  or  the  dates  of  early  iron  enter- 
prises in  North  Carolina  are  to  be  found.  The  colonial 
period,  therefore,  gives  but  little  in  the  way  of  the  de- 
velopment of  this  industry  in  that  colony  ;  nor  is  there 
any  accessible  information  relative  to  the  manufacture  of 
iron  in  South  Carolina.  The  industry  was  commenced 
skiiud  labor  at  a  late  date  in  the  latter  state.  Skilled  labor  was  dear 
and  met  with  little  encouragement  ;  so  the  expense  of 
iron  works  prevented  their  establishment.  As  the 
southern  colonies  were  devoted  to  agriculture,  the  de- 
mand for  iron  was  less  than  in  the  more  northern  col- 
onies. There  was  not,  therefore,  the  stimulation  to  the 
research  for  ore  or  to  the  establishment  of  iron  works 
when  it  was  discovered.  The  first  iron  works  in  South 
Carolina  were  erected  in  the  year   1773,  but  they  were 

First  iron  destroyed  by  the  Tories  during  the  Revolution.     To  en- 

works  in  South  .■■  r     ,  f  •  ^i  1  n-        j 

Carolina.  courage  the  manufacture  of  iron  the  colony  offered  a 

premium  of  ^1,000  for  the  erection  of  a  bloomery  that 
should  first  produce  one  ton  of  good  bar-iron.  For  the 
second  and  third  forges  of  the  same  kind,  the  sums  of 
;£8oo  and  ^700,  respectively,  were  promised ;  but  it  was 
not  until  some  years  after  peace  was  declared  that  iron 
works  on  any  large  scale  were  erected.  These  consisted 
of  the  JEra.  furnace,  built  in  1787,  and  the  Etna,  erected 
the  following  year. 

The  resources  of  Georgia  in  iron,  gold,  and  coal  are 

Georgia.  ample  enough,  but  the  development  of  iron  manufacture 

did  not  take  place  during  the  colonial  period.  Georgia 
was  the  youngest  of  the  colonies,  and  it  is  very  natural 
that  she  should  have  no  iron  history  during  the  colonial 
period.  The  last  of  the  thirteen  colonies  to  be  settled, 
it  could  not  be  expected  that  such  an  industry  should  re- 
ceive much  attention. 


The  Iron  Industry.  101 

While  great  quantities  of  bar-iron,  steel,  and  nails 
were  used  by  the  colonies  before  the  war  and  imported 
from  other  countries,  nevertheless  they  exported  bar  and 
pig-iron  in  very  respectable  quantities.  For  fifty  years 
prior  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence  these  exports 
had  been  going  on,  the  quantities  ever  varying,  some- 
times from  one  cause  and  sometimes  from  another — often, 
however,  owing  to  the  restrictive  legislation  of  the 
mother-country.  The  total  amount  of  bar  and  pig-iron 
exported  in  1728,  and  this  was  from  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland,  Virginia,  and  Carolina,  was  1,127  tons  and  a 
few  hundredweight,  while  in  1775  the  exports  of  bar  Exports  of  iron, 
and  pig-iron  from  all  the  colonies  amounted  to  3,912 
tons,  the  highest  exportations  being  in  177  r,  when  they 
reached  7,525  tons  and  some  hundred  weight.  With 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  these  exportations 
dropped  at  once,  amounting  in  1776  to  a  little  over  316 
tons.  Nearly  all  of  these  exportations,  it  should  be  re- 
membered, were  to  England.  To  Scotland  and  Ireland 
there  were  exportations  of  small  quantities. 

In  this  review  of  the  development  of  the  industries  of 
the  colonies  the  attempt  has  not  been  made  to  give  in  de-  industries 
tail  the  facts  for  all  trades  and  industries,  but  only  to  pedof.  c°  °ma 
show  the  leading  features  connected  with  the  establish- 
ment of  those  industries  which  in  after  years  have  con- 
stituted the  bulk  of  the  manufactures  of  the  United 
States.  The  textiles,  which  now  lead  in  magnitude,  the 
lumber,  saw,  and  planing  business,  iron  and  steel  manu- 
facture, the  building  trades,  printing  and  publishing, 
flour  and  grist-mills,  with  boots  and  shoes  added,  employ 
56  per  cent  of  the  total  capital  of  the  United  States  in- 
vested in  manufactures  at  the  present  time,  and  their 
product  is  64  per  cent  of  the  entire  product  ;  yet  all  of 
these  industries  had  their  origin,  to  a  certain  extent,  in 


io2       Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


si manu- 
factures in 
Massachusetts. 


Exports,  1789. 


Value  of  man- 
ufactures, 1790. 


the  colonial  days.  The  manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes 
was  begun  at  a  very  early  date,  even  to  the  extent  of 
exporting  .small  quantities,  shoes  being-  exported  as  early 
as  1 65 1  by  some  of  the  merchants  of  Boston,  -who  had 
)btained  a  few,  chiefly  manufactured  of  calf-skin,  from 
Lynn,  where  the  business  had  already  been  undertaken. 
Of  course  the  tanning-  of  leather  was  a  necessity.  With 
the  colonists  were  to  be  found  handicraftsmen  of  all 
trades,  and  every  hamlet  had  its  own  shoemaker,  black- 
smith, etc.  These  small  trades  flourished  as  the  colonies 
developed  and  as  the  greater  industries  became  impor- 
tant. 

The  magnitude  of  the  manufactures  of  the  country  at 
the  time  the  constitution  was  adopted  cannot  be  stated 
with  exactness.  The  exports  of  all  kinds  amounted 
to  nearly  $20,000,000,  but  just  how  much  of  this  was 
furnished  by  the  mechanical  industries  cannot  be  stated, 
although  the  amount  must  have  been  in  the  vicinity  of 
$1,000,000,  because  a  few  years  later,  when  there  were 
returns,  it  was  found  to  be  over  $1,300,000.  To  state 
the  amount  of  manufactures  would  be  mere  guesswork, 
and  an  estimate  can  be  reached  only  by  considering  the 
amount  of  exports  and  the  value  of  manufactures  at 
later  periods.  Reasoning  from  such  facts  as  are  obtain- 
able, it  is  probable  that  the  manufactures  of  the  United 
States  at  the  close  of  the  colonial  period  amounted  to 
about  $20,000,000.*  The  matter  was  well  summed  up 
by  Alexander  Hamilton,  the  first  secretary  of  the  treas- 
ury, who  in  January,  1791,  submitted  to  the  House  of 
Representatives  as  comprehensive  a  report  as  was  pos- 
sible on  the  manufactures  of  the  states.  This  well-known 
report  gives  much  in  detail  the  facts  relative  to  the  dif- 


*  Mr.  Tench  Coxe  made  an  estimate  in  1790  fixing  the  annual  value  of  the 
manufactures  of  the  United  Stales  for  that  year  at  more  than  £20,000,000. 


Conditions  at 


The  Iro?i  Industry.  103 

ferent  industries  which  then  flourished.  The  report 
showed  a  most  gratifying  increase  in  the  manufactures  of 
the  country,  whether  they  were  conducted  for  purely 
domestic  purposes  or  for  the  supply  of  trade,  and  the 
advancement  which  each  had  made  was  clearly  pointed 
out. 

Before  the  Revolutionary  War  the  injurious  compe- 
tition with  foreign  countries  had  been  an  almost  insur-   close  of  the 

,  Revolution. 

mountable  hindrance  to  the  establishment  of  manufac- 
tures, and  at  its  close,  when  the  stimulus  of  the  war  Mas 
withdrawn,  very  many  attempts  undertaken  during  its 
progress  were  abandoned,  the  abandonment  resulting 
not  only  from  renewed  competition  with  the  mother- 
country  but  from  the  combined  effects  of  low  prices  and 
the  scarcity  and  the  high  price  of  skilled  labor  and 
machinery.  As  will  be  pointed  out  in  a  future  chapter, 
in  dealing  with  the  establishment  of  the  factory  system, 
the  American  manufacturers  were  unable  to  contend 
with  the  new  forces  coming  into  existence  in  Europe, 
and  especially  in  England,  without  legislative  protection. 
How  they  overcame  these  obstacles  will  be  shown  after 
the  treatment  of  the  colonial  period. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


LABOR    AND    WAGES. 


Early  con- 
ditions. 


Experience 
in  Virginia. 

In  Plymouth. 


The  colonists,  both  North  and  South,  while  preserving 
many  of  the  customs  and  habits  of  their  old  home,  un- 
dertook in  some  things  to  break  entirely  away  from 
them.  Among  these  attempts  to  surround  themselves 
with  new  conditions,  with  a  hope  of  avoiding  some  of 
the  difficulties  experienced  in  their  past  lives,  they  un- 
dertook to  conduct  their  work  on  the  community  basis. 
Each  colonist  was  to  do  his  share  toward  the  support  of 
the  whole,  the  result  of  the  combined  work  being  for  the 
benefit  of  all.  Pure  and  simple  communism  seemed  to 
be  the  aim,  so  far  as  labor  and  its  results  were  con- 
cerned ;  but  Captain  John  Smith,  after  a  very  brief  ex- 
perience, found  such  a  system  would  not  succeed,  and 
after  some  bitter  complaints  declared  that  ' '  he  that  will 
not  work  shall  not  eat, ' '  while  the  Plymouth  colony,  after 
nearly  three  years  of  experimenting  on  the  community 
basis,  came  to  the  same  conclusion,  finding  that  the 
drones  among  them  benefited  equally  with  the  indus- 
trious. So  labor  was  relegated  to  its  old  conditions,  and 
wages  were  paid  for  services  rendered.  The  slave  sys- 
tem in  Virginia,  however,  which  early  took  root,  pre- 
vented many  complications  which  arose  in  the  northern 
colonies,  and  few  attempts  were  made  to  regulate  wages 
by  law,  while  the  Pilgrims  were  imbued  with  the  idea 
that  nearly  every  condition — social,  industrial,  and  polit- 
ical— could  be  fixed  by  statute  and  all  the  affairs  of  the 

104 


Labor  and   Wages.  105 

community  regulated  in  exact  ways.  They  were  exclu- 
sives  in  every  respect.  They  did  not  care  to  have  with 
them  people  who  were  not  considered  as  proper  citizens, 
and  the  colonial  records  are  full  of  examples  of  town  and  Attempts  at 

f  1       •  1  11-  c  r  •   •  regulation  of 

general  legislation  excluding  from  the  benefits  of  citizen-  wages, 
ship  certain  persons  thought  to  be  undesirable.  They 
proposed  to  build  a  state  where  human  nature  should  be 
regulated  into  obedience  to  the  opinions  and  wishes  of 
the  majority  ;  so  they  very  naturally  undertook  to  regu- 
late wages  by  law,  following  in  this  practice  the  attempts 
of  England  at  various  times  to  prevent  mechanics  and 
laborers  from  charging  too  high  a  price  for  their  services. 
The  Massachusetts  Bay  colony,  as  early  as  1633, 
adopted  a  statute,  through  the  General  Court,  command-   In  ^assachu- 

1  &  setts. 

ing  that  carpenters,  sawyers,  masons,  bricklayers,  tilers, 
joiners,  wheelwrights,  mowers,  and  other  master  work- 
men (as  they  were  then  called,  but,  as  they  would  be 
designated  to-day,  journeymen)  were  not  to  receive 
more  than  two  shillings  per  day,  each  paying  his  own 
board,  or  if  furnished  with  living  they  might  receive  four- 
teen pence  per  day.  The  constable,  with  two  others  as- 
sociated with  him,  was  to  fix  the  rates  of  pay  of  inferior 
workmen  in  the  same  occupations.  The  best  laborers 
were  allowed  eighteen  pence  per  day,  while  the  poorer 
ones  were  rated  by  the  constable,  as  in  the  case  of  in- 
ferior workmen  in  the  trades.  Skilled  tailors  were  paid 
twelve  pence  per  day,  but  the  poorer  ones  were  paid  ^?*esof 
eight  pence  per  day,  with  their  living.  The  whole  day 
was  the  time,  but  allowances  were  made  for  food  and 
rest.  Whenever  an  employer  paid  wages  beyond  the 
amounts  established  by  law,  or  whenever  a  workman 
received  such  extra  wages,  he  was  subjected  to  penal- 
ties. The  law  undertook  to  say  that  there  should 
be  no  idleness,  and  idleness  was  subjected  to  penalty. 


io6      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Towns  author- 
ized to  fix 
wages. 


Labor  in 
demand. 


Free  trade  in 
labor  not 
acceptable. 


Curiously  enough,  in  the  year  1634  the  clause  of  the 
statute  imposing  a  penalty  of  five  shillings  upon  those 
who  paid  wages  above  the  court  rates  was  repealed,  and 
towns  were  authorized  to  appoint  a  board  of  three  men 
to  adjust  wages  when  the  employers  and  employees 
could  not  agree  as  to  the  rates  for  work  done  under  the 
law.  In  1635,  finding  that  the  statute  did  not  work  ex- 
actly as  it  was  expected,  some  men  were  fined  for  receiv- 
ing two  shillings  and  six  pence  per  day,  but  this  rule 
gave  little  satisfaction,  and  later  in  the  year  the  law  was 
repealed.  There  was  plenty  of  work  to  do,  while  labor 
was  in  demand.  Many  workmen  were  brought  over 
from  England  in  the  early  days,  under  contract  to  work 
out  their  passage  money  after  arriving.  The  practice  of 
apprenticing  boys,  even  at  an  early  age,  some  of  them 
not  older  than  seven  years  being  bound  until  twenty-one 
years  of  age,  was  common,  and  the  service  they  had  to 
render  was  severe,  as  was  also  the  discipline  they  had  to 
undergo  for  conduct  that  was  not  approved.  These  ap- 
prentices were  entitled,  under  custom,  to  a  suit  of  clothes 
on  attaining  their  majority,  and  this  practice  was  con- 
tinued until  very  recent  times. 

Strange  to  say,  the  experience  of  the  three  years 
mentioned  did  not  convince  the  Massachusetts  Bay 
colonists  of  the  futility  of  undertaking  to  fix  economic 
conditions  by  statute,  and  so  in  1636  towns  were 
authorized  to  fix  wages  within  their  respective  juris- 
dictions. It  was  impossible  for  the  settlers  to  be- 
lieve that  legislation  was  not  essential.  Free  trade 
in  labor  was  not  acceptable.  But  the  collapse  in 
prices  which  occurred  in  1640  brought  them  to  another 
position,  and  they  were  taught  that  local  option  in  the 
fixing  of  wages  was  not  sufficient  to  control  prices  of 
commodities ;    so    laborers    were   commanded   by  the 


Labor  and   Wage*.  107 

General  Court  to  reduce  wages  in  accordance  with 
the  reduction  of  prices,  and  in  Plymouth  colony,  as 
late  as  the  year  1639,  laborers  were  fined  for  taking 
wages  beyond  the  limits.  These  attempts  led  them 
into  all  sorts  of  vague  notions  as  to  the  power  of 
law.     No  sooner  did  one   statute  fail  than    it  was  re-   Notion  that  law 

could  fix  wages. 

pealed  and  some  other  attempt  made  in  like  direc- 
tion, but  generally  reversing  what  had  gone  before. 
Mr.  William  B.  Weeden,  in  his  work,  "The  Economic 
and  Social  History  of  New  England,  1620-1789,"  has 
brought  together  very  many  instances  of  attempts 
to  regulate  social  and  economic  conditions,  and  the 
reader  is  referred  to  that  work  for  more  general  details 
than  can  be  recited  in  the  present  volume.  Speaking 
of  these  attempts,  he  calls  attention  very  forcibly  to 
the  fact  that  the  administration  of  government  in  the 
colonial  days  consisted  largely  in  meddlesome  interfer- 
ence with  daily  affairs,  and  that  the  colonists  were  ever 
trying  to  so  adjust  the  burdens  of  the  state  that  their 
own  backs  and  those  of  their  poor  dependents  might  be 
galled  the  least  possible  ;  yet  he  states,  with  wisdom, 
that  the  intuitive  sagacity  of  the  men  of  those  early  days 
seldom  failed  in  indicating  the  finally  tenable  grounds  of 
legislation.  In  the  light  of  these  statements  it  will  not 
appear  strange  that  legislation  was  aimed  at  the  regula- 
tion of  dress  and  even  to  minuter  affairs  that  concerned 
the  household  and  not  the  public. 

It  is  impossible  to  state  definitely  the  average  wages 
paid  in  any  class  of  work,  but  for  a  long  period  two 
shillings  per  day  may  be  considered  as  a  fair  average  for 
mechanical  labor.  It  was  natural,  under  the  primitive 
conditions  surrounding  the  colonists,  that  labor  should 
be  performed  in  exchange  for  goods  and  produce,  under 
a  system  of  barter,  and  this  system  was  superinduced,  to 


Average  wages. 


io8       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  Stales. 


Effect  of 
attempts  to 
regulate  wages. 


Wages  of 

mowers. 


Skilled  work- 
men subjected 
to  annoying 

regulations. 


a  certain  extent,  by  legislative  interference.  The  at- 
tempt to  have  each  town  regulate  its  own  wages  resulted 
in  the  working  people  seeking  new  abodes  and  attempt- 
ing to  live  independent  of  legislative  restriction.  Speak- 
ing of  the  time  of  1640  and  later,  and  of  Massachusetts, 
it  is  ascertained  that  the  General  Court  found  by  ex- 
perience that  labor  could  not  and  would  not  be  con- 
trolled. Winthrop  says  the  legislation  "held  not  long." 
But  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth  were  not  alone  in  these 
attempts,  for  the  Connecticut  court  fixed  detailed  prices 
for  artificers  and  workmen  during  the  same  period. 
Some  of  the  regulations  of  the  towns  were  to  the  effect 
of  making  one  shilling  and  six  pence  per  day  the  wage 
for  common  labor.  Mowers  received  two  shillings  and 
carpenters  one  shilling  and  ten  pence,  while  a  man 
using  two  yoke  of  oxen  received  six  shillings  for  eight 
hours  of  labor.  Wheelwrights,  under  the  regulations 
of  Hingham,  in  the  Massachusetts  Bay  colony,  were 
brought  to  two  shillings  per  day.  But  through  it  all 
and  for  many  years  there  seemed  to  be  great  anxiety 
whenever  labor  undertook  to  fix  its  own  price,  and  if  a 
man  by  any  means  was  enabled  to  secure  wages  out  of 
the  ordinary  line  he  was  looked  upon  with  suspicion. 

All  through  the  seventeenth  century  skilled  work- 
men and  laborers  were  subjected  to  these  annoying 
regulations,  both  in  fixing  wages  and  in  imposing 
fines  for  excess.  But  the  law  did  not  stop  here,  for  it 
prohibited  excessive  prices  by  dealers.  It  is  learned 
from  the  records  of  the  Massachusetts  colony  that  an 
edict  was  issued  in  1645  that  workmen  were  not  to  be 
forced  to  take  wine  in  part  payment  for  their  services, 
while  in  1672  the  General  Court  forbade  laborers  to  de- 
mand liquors  as  a  part  of  their  wages.  This  latter 
movement  was  to  offset  the  restriction  on  the  laborers, 


Labor  and   Wages.  109 

but  legislators  found  then  that  the  toilers  of  the  land 
grew  more  and  more  independent  with  the  lapse  of  years 
and  that  it  was  futile  to  undertake  to  control  them  in 
what  they  should  receive  for  their  services.      At  this  time 

Wages 

(1672 )  common  laborers  were  paid  two  shillings,  as  they  "'  '  ommon 

'  -  .  &  J      laborer 

were  forty  years  before.  \v  omen  were  paid  from  four  to  0f  women, 
five  pounds  per  annum.  Indians  who  worked  in  the  of  Indians, 
fields  were  paid  eighteen  pence  per  day.  These  wages 
continued,  for  the  records  show  that  a  common  laborer 
in  New  England  earned  two  shillings  per  day  at  the  close 
of  the  century,  and  two  shillings  and  three  pence  to  three 
shillings  in  New  York.  Skilled  labor  in  the  mother- 
country  received  rather  less  compensation.  With  the 
opening  of  the  new  century  labor  received  more  in  this 
country,  one  John  Marshall,  of  Braintree,  being  paid 
about  four  shillings  per  day  from  1697  to  171 1.  He  was 
what  would  be  called  an  "  all-around  man,"  doing  some 
work  on  farms,  making  laths  in  the  winter,  and  working 
as  a  painter  and  carpenter  and  a  maker  of  bricks. 

Wages  in  the  Virginia  colony  during  the  same  period  .  „.    inia 
were  computed  at  ten  pounds  sterling  per  annum.     It  is 
somewhat   remarkable  that  wages  remained   so  steady 
during  all  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  in  fact  there 
was  no  great  change  until  far  into  the  following  century. 
The  wages  of  farm  laborers  were  very  generally  taken  as 
the  standard  from  which  the  wages  paid  to  mechanics, 
tradesmen,  and  other  laborers  were  to  be  computed.  * 
At  the  close  of  the  colonial  period  agricultural  laborers 
were  paid  only  about  forty  cents  per  day,  and  this  was 
very  little  in  excess  of  their  wages  in  the  middle  of  the 
century,  the  average  wages  from   1752  to   1760  being  in  1752. 
thirty-one  cents  per  day,  while  butchers  in   1780  were   In    to 
paid  but  thirty-three  and  one  third  cents  per  day,  and 

*  See  Felt's  "  History  of  Massachusetts  Currency." 


iio       Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Wages  of 
and  boat- 
builders. 


Prices. 


Variation  i 
prices. 


carpenters  fifty-two  cents.  Ship  and  boatbuilders,  when 
Bh'P  the  colonial  period  closed,  were  paid  about  ninety  cents 
per  day,  and  shoemakers  seventy-three  cents.  Black- 
smiths were  paid  nearly  seventy  cents  per  day.  These 
illustrations  are  sufficient  to  show  the  general  conditions, 
so  far  as  wages  are  concerned,  of  laborers  during  the 
colonial  period.  * 

The  value  of  a  day' s  wages  cannot  be  estimated  by 
the  amount  represented  in  money.  That  is  what  politi- 
cal economists  call  the  "nominal"  wage.  The  real 
wage  must  be  determined  by  considering  the  prices  which 
the  laborer  is  obliged  to  pay  for  the  necessaries  of  life, 
and  when  these  are  considered  it  will  be  found  that  al- 
though work  was  plenty  and  laborers  scarce,  the  work- 
ingman  was  obliged  to  pay  comparatively  high  prices, 
thus  reducing  his  real  wage.  The  records  give  ample 
material  for  price  quotations.  In  1630,  in  the  northern 
colonies,  while  a  master  mechanic  was  paid  on  the  aver- 
age, we  will  say,  two  shillings  per  day,  he  was  obliged  to 
pay  from  ten  to  eleven  shillings  per  bushel  for  corn  and 
fourteen  shillings  per  bushel  for  wheat,  while  a  good  cow 
was  worth  twenty-five  pounds.  Many  things,  however, 
were  low,  a  pound  of  butter  costing  but  six  pence  and  a 
pound  of  cheese  five  pence,  and  the  price  of  corn  and 
wheat  varied  greatly,  for  in  1633  corn  could  be  bought 
for  six  shillings  per  bushel  ;  yet  in  1635  twelve  shillings 
was  the  price. 

The  prices  of  commodities  varied  much  more  than 
the  price  of  labor.  Taking  a  few  quotations  from 
1740  we  find  that  carpenters  and  mowers,  who  re- 
ceived two  shillings  and  six  pence  per  day,  paid  about 
six  shillings  per  bushel  for  corn.      Summer  wheat  was 


♦See  "History  of  Wages  and  Prices  in  Massachusetts,"  1 752-1883,  by  the 
author.    Boston,  1SS5. 


Labor  and   Wages.  ill 

seven  shillings  per  bushel  and  rye  six  shillings,  while 
later  in  the  year  corn  could  be  purchased  for  four  shil- 
lings. This  latter  commodity  fell  two  or  three  years 
later  to  two  shillings  and  four  pence  per  bushel,  but  meal  Prices  of  wheat, 

i        i     i         t  corn,  and  rye. 

was  fourteen  shillings  per  bushel.  In  1640  a  cow  cost 
but  five  pounds,  while  sheep  could  be  bought  for  ten 
shillings  a  head,  and  yearling  swine  for  twenty  shillings. 
These  prices,  however,  are  not  very  perfect  indica- 
tions of  trade  prices,  as  they  are  often  taken  from 
schedules  of  property  which  might  have  been  sold  under 
some  stress  ;  yet  they  indicate  something  of  what  labor 
was  called  upon  to  expend  for  a  living.  In  1646,  if  a 
workingman  wished  to  send  his  child  to  school,  he  had 
to  pay  four  shillings  per  quarter.  Indian  corn  is  quoted 
at  all  sorts  of  prices,  up  to  ten  or  twelve  shillings  and 
down  to  two  shillings  per  bushel,  at  different  periods  ; 
but  in  the  closing  years  of  the  seventeenth  century  it 
was  quoted  at  three  shillings  per  bushel,  while  wheat  was 
selling  at  five  shillings  and  rye  at  two  shillings  and  six 
pence  per  bushel,  pork  at  three  pence  per  pound,  and 
beef  at  two  pence  per  pound.  A  hogshead  of  cider  prices  of  pork 
could  be  bought  for  one  pound  and  seven  shillings,  sell-  andclder- 
ing  for  from  six  to  seven  shillings  per  gallon.  There 
was  less  variation  in  prices  from  1700  to  the  close  of  the 
colonial  period,  although  during  the  Revolutionary  War 
fluctuations  were,  of  course,  great  ;  but  the  year  before 
the  war  began,  that  is,  in  1774,  corn  was  worth  about 
three  shillings  per  bushel  and  wheat  about  six  shillings 
per  bushel,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  corn  could  be 
bought  at  from  three  shillings  to  three  shillings  and  ten 
pence  per  bushel,  and  in  1789,  while  carpenters  were  re- 
ceiving three  shillings  and  four  pence  per  day  and  com- 
mon laborers  two  shillings  and  four  pence,  Indian  corn 
was  three  shillings  and  two  pence  per  bushel. 


1 1 2      Industrial  Evolution  of  tlie   United  States. 


Women 
workers. 


Spirit  of  ad- 
venture. 


Conditions. 


V 


'/ 


The  women  rarely  worked  for  wages  during  the  period 
now  under  consideration,  but  they  carded  the  wool, 
spun  the  yarn,  and  wove  the  cloth  for  the  manufacture 
of  the  homespun  clothing  of  the  male  members  of  the 
family.  If  they  could  weave  more  than  was  wanted  for 
the  consumption  of  the  household  they  sold  the  surplus 
or  traded  it  in  barter  for  the  things  they  needed  and 
which  they  could  not  produce.  When  they  worked  for 
wages  they  received  from  four  to  five  pounds  per  annum. 
In  many  instances  they  worked  on  the  land,  and  they 
did  their  share  in  every  way  to  enable  the  family  not 
only  to  secure  a  livelihood  but  to  build  itself  upon  stable 
lines. 

The  work  of  the  colonial  period,  except  in  the  towns 
after  they  got  thickly  settled  or  fairly  so,  was  ever 
the  work  of  pioneers.  Their  struggle  was  an  arduous 
one — building  log  houses  and  supplying  the  family,  and 
when  they  felt  crowded  by  too  many  neighbors,  starting 
out  into  the  wilderness.  The  spirit  of  adventure,  the 
spirit  of  finding  what  was  beyond  their  own  limited 
horizon,  their  industry,  their  willingness  to  work  for 
what  work  brought,  gave  to  our  forebears  everywhere 
throughout  the  colonial  settlements  characters  which  not 
only  sustained  them  but  which  enabled  them  to  build  a 
new  nation.  Notwithstanding  all  the  vicissitudes  and 
restrictions  of  petty  legislation,  the  long  hours  of  work, 
the  ceaseless  round  of  toil,  they  were  thrifty  and  fairly 
prosperous. 

After  the  first  half  century  it  must  be  admitted  that 
from  a  purely  physical  point  of  view  the  working- 
men  of  the  colonial  period  were  fairly  comfortable  in 
their  conditions.  They  did  not  have  much  intellectual 
stimulation,  nor  did  they  meet  the  mental  friction  which 
belongs  to  our  day.     They  were  without  many  of  the 


Labor  and   Wages.  113 

things  which  are  now  necessities,  but  which  to  them 
would  have  been  great  luxuries,  for  their  wants  were 
few  and  their  expectations  of  acquiring  even  simple 
luxuries  restricted.     It  is  difficult,  from  any  philosoph-  Comp 

.      ,  .  ,.      .  1,11.  with  present 

ical  point  of  view,  to  say  whether  they  were  happier  time. 
than  the  workingmen  of  the  present  time,  but  when 
their  struggles  are  taken  into  consideration  it  must  be 
conceded  that  they  were  far  less  favorably  situated  for 
the  cultivation  of  those  characteristics  which  make  of 
the  workingmen  of  the  present  time  the  basis  of  social 
stability.  They  were  hardly  factors  in  the  politics  of 
the  colonies — at  least  they  were  not  so  to  any  such  de- 
gree as  die  workingmen  are  now  political  factors.  The 
old  English  relation  of  master  and  servant  prevailed,  and 
the  attempts  at  legislative  regulation  of  wages  showed 
that  the  influence  of  the  feudal  system  still  exercised 
considerable  power  over  the  minds  of  leaders.  They 
had  but  little  education  as  compared  with  the  working- 
men  of  our  own  day,  and  their  children  were  inured  to 
the  same  kind  of  toil  that  belonged  to  their  own  con- 
dition. Could  they  have  foreseen  the  circumstances  and 
the  environment  of  the  workingmen  of  the  present  day 
they  would  have  considered  that  the  dream  of  the  social 
philosophers  of  their  day  was  to  be  realized,  for  they  had 
none  of  the  amenities  of  life  that  are  free  now  on  every 
hand. 

The  colonists  secured  one  thing  which  the  working- 

°  °       Freedom  of 

man  appreciated.     They  were  free  men  ;  they  were  not  workingmen. 

tied  to  the  soil,  such  servitude  which  had  wrought  great 

evil  under  the  feudal  system   being  utterly  forbidden. 

There  was  no  villeinage  nor  serfdom,  and  the  condition 

of  the  laborer  was  far  in  advance  of  his  condition  in 

England  or  on  the  Continent,  but  while  the  demands 

for  common  labor  were  active,  the  demands  for  higher 


H4      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Scarcity  of 
money. 


Opposition  to 

arbitrary 

wages. 


priced  master  workmen  were  not  so  great.  Money  was 
scarce  and  men  were,  in  general,  seeking  an  independent 
home  and  the  opportunity  to  better  themselves  by  ob- 
taining land.  As  population  increased  the  demand  for 
laborers  by  farmers  increased,  and  Indians  and  negro 
slaves  came  in  to  complicate  matters.  There  was  always 
rebellion  among  the  master  workmen  and  the  better  class 
of  common  laborers  against  the  arbitrary  wages  decreed 
by  courts,  and  so  they  preferred  to  live  on  their  own 
land.  This  movement  of  course  restricted  the  supply 
of  labor  and  at  the  same  time  restricted  the  opportunities 
not  only  for  the  diversification  of  industries  but  for  the 
expansion  of  individual  wants.  The  colonists  were  vig- 
orous in  their  efforts  to  settle  the  country  and  as  rigid  in 
their  views  as  they  were  vigorous.   Narrow  in  their  con- 


An  American  Plow  of  1776. 


ceptions  of  life,  exclusive  in  their  relations,  dogmatic  in 
their  opinions,  strangers  to  pleasure,  with  the  knowledge 
now  open  to  all  a  sealed  book  to  them,  it  is  difficult  to 
understand  that  they  could  have  been  happier  than  are 
their  posterity  ;  yet  there  must  have  been  great  pleasure 
in  subduing  the  hard  conditions  they  met  on  every 
hand  and  in  feeling  that  they  were  overcoming  obstacles. 
Their  victory  over  nature  and  their  constant  progress 
were  their  great  reward  and  the  source  of  their  con- 
tentment. 


PART  II. 
THE  EVOLUTION  OF  INDUSTRY: 

i 790-1890. 


Colonial  period. 


PART  II— THE  EVOLUTION  OF  INDUSTRY: 

1790-1890. 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  FACTORY  SYSTEM. 

In  treating  industry  and  labor  in  the  colonial  days, 
the  colonial  period  for  the  purposes  of  this  work  has 
been  considered  as  closing  March  4,  1789,  when  the 
present  government  of  the  United  States  went  into  op- 
eration under  the  new  constitution.  Politically  speak- 
ing, the  colonial  period  ended  when  the  people  of  the 
colonies  declared  themselves  free  and  independent  of 
the  government  of  Great  Britain  and  that  the  United 
Colonies  should  be  free  and  independent  states  ;  for  at 
that  time,  July  4,  1776,  the  colonies  assumed  independ- 
ent positions,  and  from  that  time  each  colony  took  the 
name  of  "state."     The  date  of  the  Declaration  of  In-   n.-ueof 

j  j  iir  ^l  •  j  j     /•  Declaration  of 

dependence,  therefore,  must  be  considered,  irom  a  po-  independence 
litical  standpoint,  as  the  birthday  of  the  nation.  Indus-  point  of  view. 
trially  speaking,  however,  this  cannot  be  so  considered, 
and  it  is  a  little  difficult  to  determine,  from  an  industrial 
point  of  view,  exactly  what  date  to  assign  for  the  closing 
of  the  colonial  period.  The  states,  as  they  had  declared 
themselves,  adopted  Articles  of  Confederation  March  1, 
1 78 1.  The  people  of  the  colonies  had  made  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence,  but  the  Continental  Congress 
which  made  the  declaration  was  practically  a  committee 
of  conference,  and  the  Continental  Congress  under  the 
Articles  of  Confederation,  adopted  March  1,  1781,  was 

"7 


1 1 8      Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  Stales. 


Colonial  status 
of  industry. 


Variation  in 

duties. 


Change  in 
commercial 

conditions. 


but  little  more.  The  colonial  status  existed  so  far  as  in- 
dustry and  commerce  were  concerned,  and  even  after 
the  definitive  peace  signed  at  Paris  September  3,  1783, 
when  the  results  of  the  declaration  of  1776  were  secured 
and  all  the  world  recognized  the  new  nation,  the  indus- 
trial colonial  status  still  existed,  and  such  condition  con- 
tinued until  the  adoption  of  the  new  constitution  in 
1787,  which  went  into  effect  March  4,  1789 — in  fact,  it 
was  largely  to  relieve  the  states  of  the  colonial  status, 
industrially  and  commercially  speaking,  that  the  new 
constitution  was  framed.  Prior  to  that  each  state  regu- 
lated its  own  commerce  and  could  and  did  restrict  inter- 
state commerce.  Duties  on  foreign  commerce  varied, 
according  to  the  views  and  conditions  existing  in  each 
state.  For  these  reasons  it  has  been  thought  proper,  in 
treating  of  the  industries  and  labor  in  colonial  days  in 
the  preceding  chapters,  to  consider  the  colonial  period 
as  ending  March  4,  1789. 

This  is  logical,  again,  from  the  fact  that  contempo- 
raneous with  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  new  forces 
came  into  existence  which  affected,  and  vitally,  the  in- 
dustrial situation.  The  commerce  of  each  of  the  states 
became  the  commerce  of  the  United  States.  The  change 
in  the  method  of  manufacturing  goods  came  then,  and 
the  birth  of  the  factory  system  in  this  country  followed 
the  birth  of  the  present  constitutional  government.  The 
second  act  under  the  constitution  was  passed  July  4, 
1789,  with  this  preamble  : 

Whereas,  it  is  necessary  for  the  support  of  the  government, 
for  the  discharge  of  the  debts  of  the  United  States,  and  for  the 
encouragement  and  the  protection  of  manufactures,  that  duties 
be  laid  on  goods,  wares,  and  merchandise  imported  : 

Be  it  enacted,  etc. 

This  act,  which  need  not  be  given,  paved  the  way  for 


The  Development  of  the  Factory  System.        119 

the  importation  of  the  factory  system  of  industry,  which 
had  already  been  established  in  the  mother-country.  ;;: 

When  the  states  had  won  their  political  independence 
they  found  themselves  still  dependent  industrially  upon   states. 

..  111  r  l'"1  "lKl"  (-"rt'al 

Great  Britain,  and  largely  on  account  of  restrictive  Iegis-  Britain. 
lation.  England  sought  by  every  means  to  prevent  the 
introduction  of  mechanical  industry  into  the  United 
States.  This  was  the  uniform  course  all  through  the 
colonial  period,  and  after  1760,  when  cotton-spinning 
machinery  had  been  invented  and  perfected  to  a  prac- 
tical degree,  England  sought  to  retain  to  herself  all  the 
benefits  which  might  accrue  from  the  great  inventions 
that  had  been  made.  These  inventions  consisted  of 
means  for  spinning  and  weaving  by  machinery,  and  were 
brought  into  practical  use  under  the  patents  of  various 
inventors.  Prior  to  1767  all  yarn  used  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  textiles  of  all  kinds  was  spun  in  single  threads 
upon  the  domestic  spinning-wheel,  and  the  weaving  had 
been  done  on  the  old  cumbersome  hand-loom.  The 
principal  machines  for  spinning  were  perfected  by  Har- 
greaves  and  Arkwright,  who  broke  down  the  barrier 
which  had  long  obstructed  the  advance  of  the  cotton 
manufacture  and  practically  inaugurated  the  factory  sys- 
tem of  the  United  States,  which  must  date  from  the  time 
of  their  inventions.  But  it  took  the  power-loom,  invented 
by  Dr.  Edward  Cartwright,  in  1785,  to  give  the  spinning 
machinery  all  its  power,  for  prior  to  his  invention  all  the 
yarn  spun  by  the  power  machines  had  been  woven  into 
cloth  by  the  hand-loom  weavers.  The  power-loom,  there- 
fore, closed  the  catalogue  of  machines  essential  to  the 
opening  of  the  new  era  of  mechanical  supremacy.    This 


♦This  account  of  the  development  of  the  factory  system  in  the  United 
States  is  taken  quite  largely  from  the  "Report  "u  the  Factory  System  cf  ine 
United  States,"  to  be  found  in  Vol.  II.,  Reports  of  the  Tenth  Census,  which 
the  author  made  to  the  Superintendent  of  Census  in  1883. 


i2o      Lid  list)  in  I  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Use  of  steam. 


English  policy 
toward  United 
States. 


series  of  inventions  was  applied  during  the  score  of  years 
from  1765  to  1785,  and  England  possessed  these  inven- 
tions and  was  determined  to  maintain  the  sole  possession 
thereof. 

The  application  of  steam  aided  the  rapid  development 
of  the  new  order  of  things,  for  on  the  breaking  out  of 
the  American  war  the  steam-engine  passed  beyond  its 
primitive  use  in  draining  mines,  etc.,  and  was  rapidly 
adopted  for  all  kinds  of  manufacturing  industry.  Tex- 
tile mills  had  been  located  upon  streams  of  water,  from 
which  power  was  obtained.  With  the  application  of  the 
steam-engine  such  location  was  no  longer  a  physical  ne- 
cessity, for  mills  could  be  built  and  run  near  large  towns, 
whose  crowded  population  could  supply  their  operatives. 

It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  England,  at  the  close  of 
the  Revolution,  and  even  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of 
our  constitution,  held,  as  she  supposed,  the  key  to  the 
industrial  world  of  cotton  manufacture  ;  she  certainly 
held  the  machinery,  without  which  such  manufacture 
could  not  be  carried  on  in  competition  with  her  own 
mills.  Parliament  passed  stringent  laws  prohibiting  the 
exportation  of  machines,  plans,  and  models  of  machines. 
The  English  policy  began  to  shape  itself  with  regard  to 
trade  outside  the  island,  and  that  policy  was  to  buy  as 
little  as  possible  and  sell  to  everybody,  and  to  use  the 
colonies,  and  even  the  states  after  they  passed  into  inde- 
pendent condition,  as  the  ever-increasing  market  for  her 
products.  She  possessed  all  the  raw  material  for  a  large 
list  of  products,  but  cotton  was  wanting.  This  she  ex- 
pected to  receive  from  India.  The  American  colonies  had 
been  destined  for  her  food-raising  department  and  for  an 
outlet  for  her  surplus  manufactures.  This  had  been  her 
expressed  policy  before  the  war,  and  this  policy  had  stim* 
ulated  her  to  the  long-continued  strife  which  followed. 


The  Development  of  the  Factory  System.        121 

By  14  Geo.  III.,  c.  71,  it  was  enacted  that  if  any  per- 
son exported  any  tools  or  utensils  commonly  used  in  the  Exportation 

1  J  J  of  tools 

cotton  or  linen  manufactures,  or  other  goods  wherein  cot-  prohibited. 

ton  or  linen  was  used,  or  any  parts  of  such  tools  or  uten- 
sils, he  should  not  only  forfeit  the  same,  but  also  ,£200. 
Even  the  possession  of  such  implements,  with  a  view  to 
exportation,  made  them  liable  to  seizure  and  the  possessor 
to  arrest.  This  law  was  passed  in  1774,  and  related 
to  the  inventions  of  Arkwright  and  Hargreavcs.  This 
legislation  on  the  part  of  England  was  contemporaneous 
with  the  non-importation  resolutions  of  the  American 
colonies,  nearly  all  of  which,  prior  to  the  Revolution, 
took  active  steps,  as  has  been  seen,  to  encourage  manu- 
factures. 

The  difficulties,  therefore,  under  which  the  people  of  Difficulties  of 
the  United  States  labored  in  securing  the  development  manufactures, 
of  their  manufactures  with  the  use  of  the  new  machinery 
of  England  were  aggravated  by  legislation.  This  country, 
however,  had  the  natural  position  which  would  enable  it 
to  develop  the  textile  industry,  for  here,  as  well  as  in 
England,  existed  the  germ  of  the  textile  factory  in  the 
fulling  and  carding-mills  which  had  been  erected  at  con- 
venient localities  in  nearly  all  the  colonies  ;  and  cotton 
could  be  raised  in  the  Southern  States,  and  thus  be  util- 
ized as  nearly  at  first  hands  as  possible,  certainly  with  an 
advantage  over  European  competition,  for  Western 
Europe  was  obliged  to  secure  its  cotton  from  India.  To 
secure  the  factory  system  there  must  be  the  machinery 
which  England  was  using,  and  to  get  this  required  efforts 
and  struggles  which  brought  out  the  patriotism  and  the. 
courage  of  the  manufacturers  of  the  time. 

The  first  attempts  to  secure  the  spinning  machinery   First  attem,lts 
which  had  come  into  use  in  England  were  made  in  Phila-   {jj^ 
delphia  early  in  the  year  1775.  when  probably  the  first 


122       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


n.ii  \  to  factory 
system. 


English  laws 
prohibiting 
exportation  of 

machines. 


spinning-jenny  ever  seen  in  America  was  exhibited  in 
that  city.  During  the  war  the  manufacturers  of  Phila- 
delphia extended  their  enterprises,  and  even  built  and 
run  mills  which  writers  often  call  factories,  but  which  can 
hardly  be  classed  under  that  term.  They  were  mills 
rather  than  factories.  Similar  efforts,  all  preliminary  to 
the  establishment  of  the  factory  system  of  labor,  were 
made  in  Worcester,  Mass.,  in  1780.  In  1781  the  British 
Parliament,  determined  that  the  textile  machinery  by 
which  the  manufactures  of  England  were  being  rapidly 
extended,  and  which  the  continental  producers  were 
anxious  to  secure,  should  not  be  used  by  the  people  of 
America,  reenacted  and  enlarged  the  scope  of  the  statute 
of  1774  against  its  exportation,  to  which  reference  has 
been  made.  So  by  21  Geo.  III.,  c.  37,  it  was  provided 
that  any  person  who  packed  or  put  on  board,  or  caused 
to  be  brought  to  any  place  in  order  to  be  put  on  any 
vessel  for  exportation,  any  machine,  engine,  tool,  press, 
paper,  utensil,  or  implement,  or  any  part  thereof,  which 
then  was  or  thereafter  might  be  used  in  the  woolen,  cot- 
ton, linen,  or  silk  manufacture  of  the  kingdom,  or  goods 
wherein  wool,  cotton,  linen,  or  silk  was  used,  or  any 
model  or  plan  of  such  machinery,  tool,  engine,  press, 
utensil,  or  implement,  should  forfeit  every  such  machine, 
etc.,  and  all  goods  packed  therewith,  and  ^200,  and  also 
suffer  imprisonment  for  one  year  ;  and  the  next  year, 
1782,  a  law  was  enacted  which  prohibited,  under  penalty 
of  ,£500,  the  exportation  or  the  attempt  to  export 
"blocks,  plates,  engines,  tools,  or  utensils  used  in  or 
which  are  proper  for  the  preparing  or  finishing  of  the 
calico,  cotton,  muslin,  or  linen  printing  manufactures,  or 
any  part  thereof."  The  same  act  prohibited  the  trans- 
portation of  tools  employed  in  the  iron  and  steel  manu- 
factures.    Acts  were  also  passed  which  interdicted  the 


The  Development  of  the  Factory  System.        123 

emigration  of  artificers.  All  these  laws  were  enforced 
with  great  vigilance,  and  were,  of  course,  serious  obstacles 
to  the  institution  of  the  new  system  of  manufacture  in 
America.  So  the  Americans  were  compelled  either  to 
smuggle  or  to  invent  their  machinery,  and  it  is  simply  a 
matter  of  history  that  both  methods  were  practiced  until 
most  of  the  secrets  of  the  manufacture  of  cotton  goods 
were  made  available  in  this  country. 

The  planting  of  the  mechanic  arts  became  a  necessity  Necessity  of 
in  this  country  during  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  and  mechanic  arts, 
afterward  the  spirit  of  American  enterprise  demanded 
that  New  England  and  the  Middle  States  should  utilize 
the  water-powers  which  they  possessed,  and  by  such 
utilization  supply  the  people  with  home  manufactures, 
and  thus  secure  industrial  as  well  as  political  independ- 
ence. It  was  therefore  very  natural  that  when  the 
people  of  the  new  nation  saw  that  the  treaty  of  Paris  had 
not  brought  industrial  independence  a  new  form  of  ex- 
pression of  patriotism  should  take  the  place  of  military 
service.  In  obedience  to  this  expression  associations 
were  formed  the  object  of  which  was  to  discourage  the 
use  of  British  goods,  and  as  the  Articles  of  Confedera- 
tion, adopted  March  1,  1781,  did  not  provide  for  the 
regulation  of  commerce,  the  legislatures  of  the  several 
states  were  besought  by  the  people  to  protect  home 
manufactures.     The  constitution  of  1789  remedied  the  „     ._     , 

'     ~  Benefits  of  con- 

defects  of  the  articles  in  this  respect  and  gave  Congress   stitution  of  1789 

.  .  in  developing 

the  power  to  legislate  on  commercial  affairs  ;  and,  as  industry, 
already  intimated,  the  constitution  was  really  the  out- 
come of  the  industrial  necessities  of  the  people,  because 
it  was  largely  on  account  of  the  difficulties  and  the  irri- 
tations growing  out  of  the  various  commercial  regula- 
tions of  the  individual  states  that  a  convention  of  com- 
missioners from  the  various  states  was  held  in  Annapolis 


i24        Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


in  September,  1786,  which  convention  recommended  the 
one  that  framed  the  new  or  present  constitution  of  the 
United  States. 

The  great  question  then  was  how  to  secure  textile  ma- 

Kxpenments  in  o  ± 

Massachusetts,    chinery  like  that  used  in   England.     In   1786  the  legis- 
lature  of  Massachusetts    offered    encouragement   for    the 


First  textile 
factory. 


Weaving  Room  in  a  Cotton-Mill,  Lowell,  Mass. 

introduction  of  machinery  for  carding  and  spinning  by 
granting  Robert  and  Alexander  Barr  ^200  to  enable 
them  to  complete  a  roping  machine,  and  also  to  "con- 
struct such  other  machines  as  are  necessary  for  the  pur- 
pose of  carding,  roping,*  and  spinning  of  sheep's  wool, 
as  well  as  of  cotton-wool, ' '  and  in  all  probability  the 
machinery  built  by  the  Barrs  was  the  first  in  this  country 
which  included  the  Arkwright  devices.  The  first  estab- 
lishment, however,  which  can  by  any  interpretation  be 
considered  a  textile  factory  was  erected  at  Beverly, 
Mass.,  in  1787.     The  legislature  aided  this  enterprise. 

*  Roping. — The  act  of  drawing  out  or  extending  a  substance  into  a  filament 
or  thread. 


The  Development  of  the  Factory  System.        125 

The  factory  continued  in  operation  for  several  years, 

but  its  career  as  a  cotton  factory  was  brief,  and  it  did  ;vi'k',d  bv     , 

J  '  legislature  of 

not  meet  with  much  success.  During-  the  same  period  Massachusetts 
other  attempts  were  made  in  Rhode  Island,  New  York, 
and  Pennsylvania,  but  chiefly  in  Rhode  Island  and  in 
that  part  of  Massachusetts  lying  contiguous  to  that  state. 
To  the  states  just  named  belongs  the  honor  of  the  in- 
troduction of  power-spinning  machines  in  this  country 
and  their  early  practical  use  here.  Rhode  Island  and 
Massachusetts  certainly  have  equal  claims,  for  while  in 
the  latter  state  the  first  experiments  were  made  in  em- 
bodying the  principles  of  Arkwright's  inventions  and    Pirstfectory 

J       °  _     1  '  °  usmtc  I-.nglish 

in  the  erection  of  the  primitive  cotton  factory,   Rhode   methods. 

Island  is  entitled  to  the  credit  of  erecting  the  first  factory 

in  which  perfected  machinery,  made  after  the  English 

models,  was  practically  employed.     The  history  of  the 

establishment  of  this  factory  is  somewhat  romantic.       It 

was  built  by  Samuel  Slater  in  1790,  in  Pawtucket,  R.  I.    Samuel  slater. 

All  efforts  at  the  introduction  of  the  English  methods 
of  spinning  had  failed,  but  Slater,  called  by  President 
Jackson  "the  father  of  American  manufactures,"  suc- 
ceeded in  introducing  them.  He  was  born  in  Belper, 
Derbyshire,  England,  June  9,  1768,  and  at  fourteen 
years  of  age  was  bound  as  an  apprentice  to  Jedcdiah 
Strutt,  Esq.,  a  manufacturer  of  cotton  machinery.  Mr. 
Strutt  was  for  several  years  a  partner  of  Sir  Richard 
Arkwright  in  the  cotton-spinning  business  ;  so  Slater 
had  every  opportunity  to  master  the  details  of  the  con- 
struction of  the  cotton  machinery  then  in  use  in  Eng- 
land, for  during  the  last  four  or  five  years  of  his  appren- 
ticeship he  served  as  general  overseer,  not  only  in 
making  machinery,  but  in  the  manufacturing  department 
of  Strutt' s  factory.  Near  the  close  of  his  term,  acci- 
dentally seeing  a  notice  in  an  American  paper  of  the 


126      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Slater's  plans. 


Slater's  arrival 
in  New  York. 


Slater's  con- 
struction of 
spinning 
machinery  in 
America. 


efforts  which  were  being  made  in  the  different  parts  of 
the  United  States  to  secure  cotton  machinery  and  of  the 
bounties  which  were  offered  to  parties  who  might  suc- 
ceed in  so  doing,  Slater  determined  to  remove  to  this 
country.  He  very  well  knew  the  provisions  of  the 
English  laws,  and  that  under  them  he  could  carry  neither 
machines  nor  models  nor  plans  of  machines  to  the  States. 
He  therefore  completed  his  full  time  with  Mr.  Strutt,  and 
then  continued  with  him  for  a  period  superintending 
some  new  works  which  Mr.  Strutt  was  erecting.  He 
did  this  that  he  might  perfect  his  knowledge  of  the  busi- 
ness in  every  department  so  thoroughly  that  he  could 
construct  machinery  from  memory,  and  thus  bring  over  in 
his  head  the  knowledge  which  he  could  not  bring  either 
in  plans,  models,  or  specifications  ;  so  Slater  embarked 
at  London  September  13,  1789,  with  a  most  precious 
cargo,  but  a  cargo  that  was  contained  entirely  in  his 
own  brain.  He  landed  in  New  York  November  17, 
1789,  and  there  made  connections  with  parties  interested 
in  cotton  manufacture  ;  but  not  meeting  with  just  the 
encouragement  he  expected,  he  corresponded  with 
Messrs.  Brown  and  Almy,  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  who 
owned  some  crude  spinning  machines,  some  of  which 
had  been  brought  from  the  primitive  factory  at  Beverly, 
Mass.  In  the  following  January,  1790,  Slater  made  ar- 
rangements with  these  parties  to  construct  machinery 
on  the  English  plan.  This  he  succeeded  in  doing  at 
Pawtucket,  making  the  machinery  principally  with  his 
own  hands,  and  on  the  20th  of  December,  1790,  he 
started  three  cards,  drawing  and  roving,  together  with 
seventy-two  spindles,  working  entirely  on  the  Arkwright 
plan,  and  these  were  the  first  of  the  kind  ever  operated 
in  America. 

South  Carolina  comes  in,  and  very  properly,  for  some 


The  Development  of  the  Factory  System.        127 


of  the  claims  in  this  respect,  although  the  record  is  not 

clear.     A  writer  in  the  American  Museum,  in  July,  I7QO,    Early  cotton 

"*      '  '      '  ■*  machinery  in 

refers  to  a  man  in  that  state  who  had  completed  and  had  South  Carolina, 
in  operation  on  the  High  Hills  of  the  Santee,  ginning, 
carding,  and  other  machines  driven  by  water,  and  also 
spinning  machines,  with  eighty-four  spindles  each,  with 
every  necessary  article  for  manufacturing  cotton  ;  and 
the  writer  further  states  that  ' '  if  this  information  be  cor- 
rect, the  attempt  to  manufacture  by  machinery  the  cot- 
ton which  they  were  then  beginning  to  cultivate  exten- 
sively (in  the  Southern  States)  was  nearly  as  early  as 
those  of  the  Northern  States." 

Similar  efforts  were  also  made  at  Philadelphia,  as 
already  intimated,  by  Samuel  Wetherell,  and  his  attempts, 
as  were  those  of 
the  Beverly  com- 
pany in  Massachu- 
setts, of  the  gentle- 
ma  n  in  South 
Carolina,  and  of 
Brown  and  Almy 
in  Providence, 
were  all  b  e  f o  r  e 
Slater's  coming. 
While  these  at- 
tempts to  intro- 
duce spinning  by 
power  did  not  com- 
prehend the  Eng- 
lish devices  and 
methods  in  full, 
they  illustrate  the 

difficulty  of  locating  the  origin  of  the  factory  system. 
Notwithstanding  these  efforts,  however,  it  is  considered 


Efforts  before 
Slater's  coming; 


A.  Eli  Wiiitni  v's  Original  Cotton-Gin. 
U.  Later  form  of  the  same  invention. 


128      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 

slater  the  first     safe,  historically,  to  start  with  Slater  as  the  first  to  erect 
.machinery!81  S     cotton  machinery  on  the   English  plan,  and  this  gives 
1790  as  the  year  of  the  birth  of  the  factory  system  in 
the  United  States. 

Another  feature  came  in  about  this  time  which  en- 
couraged the  growth  of  the  factory  system,  not  only  in 
this  country,  but  abroad.  This  was  the  invention  of  a 
machine  for  separating  the  lint  from  the  seed  of  the  cot- 
ton plant.  This  had  been  done  by  slow,  laborious  proc- 
esses conducted  by  hand,  but  in  1794  Eli  Whitney,  of 
Massachusetts,  who  was  residing  temporarily  in  Georgia, 
The  cotton-gin.   invented  the  cotton-gin,*  by  which  the  lint  was  picked 


Hulling  Cotton-gin,  with  Feeder,  Breaker,  and  Condenser. 


from  the  seed  by  means  of  sawteeth  projecting  through 
circumstances     siits  jn  t]ie  s\^e  0fa  chamber  in  which  the  seed  of  the  cot- 

aiunding  the 

invention  of  the  ton  js  placed.  Mr.  Whitney  was  visiting  some  friends 
one  day,  when  mention  was  made  of  the  difficulties  of 
separating  the  fleece  of  the  cotton  plant  from  the  seed 

*  Cotton-gin.— A  machine  used  in  separating  the  seeds  from  cotton  fibers. 


cotton-gin. 


77*<?  Development  of  the  Factory  System.        1 29 


which  filled  it  and  of  the  value  of  some  machine,  could 
the  same  be  invented,  for  accomplishing  this  purpose, 
and  he  proceeded  at  once  to  elaborate  the  ideas  which 
were    essential   for  securing    the    desired    result.     By 


The  cotton-gin 
stimulated  the 
use  of  cotton. 


The  Self-Acting  Mule. 

its  use  cotton  became  a  more  thoroughly  marketable 
article  and  its  production  vastly  stimulated.  The  de- 
velopment of  cotton-raising  in  the  South,  and  now  of  the 
cotton  manufactures  of  the  South,  is  due  very  largely  to 
this  invention. 

The  factory,  however,  needed  perfection  scientifically. 
In  the  old  country,  where  it  exists  in  great  perfection,  it  The  perfect 
did  not  reach  the  completed  structure  at  as  early  a  date 
as  it  did  in  America.  The  processes  of  cleaning  the  fiber 
and  of  spinning  the  same  into  yarn  were  carried  on  by 
one  set  of  works,  while  the  weaving  and  the  finishing 
were  carried  on  by  others,  usually  in  separate  establish- 
ments. The  perfect  factory,  the  scientific  arrangement 
of  parts  for  the  successive  processes  necessary  for  tin- 
manipulation  of  the  raw  material  till  it  came  out  finished 
goods,  had  not  been  constructed  when  the  system  was 
established  in  this  country.  The  power-loom,  although 
invented  in  17S5,  did  not  come  into  use  in  England  until 


I30      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Cotton  factory 

at  Wall  ha  in, 
Mass. 


about  1806,  while  in  this  country  it  was  not  used  at  all 
till  after  the  War  of  181 2  ;  but  even  after  it  came  into  use 
in  England  the  custom  of  spinning  the  yarn  under  one 
management  and  weaving  the  cloth  under  another  pre- 
vailed. 

In   181 1    Mr.   Francis   C.   Lowell,  of  Boston,  visited 


English  Power-Loom  for  Weaving  Calico. 

England  and  spent  much  time  in  inspecting  cotton  fac- 
tories, with  the  view  to  the  introduction  of  improved 
machinery  in  the  United  States.  His  visit  was  about  the 
time  when  the  power-loom  was  being  introduced  in  Great 
Britain,  but,  as  occurred  in  other  respects,  its  construc- 
tion was  kept  very  secret.  Mr.  Lowell,  however,  learned 
all  he  could  regarding  it  and  came  home  with  the  de- 
termination of  perfecting  it.  With  the  skill  of  Paul 
Moody,  of  Amesbury,  Mass.,  and  through  the  encour- 
agement of  Nathan  Appleton,  a  company  had  been  or- 
ganized for  the  establishment  of  a  cotton  manufactory,  to 
be  located  in  Waltham,  Mass.,  on  a  water  privilege  which 


The  Development  of  the  Factory  Syste?n.        131 

existed  there.     The  factory  was  completed  In  the  autumn 

of  1 8 14,   and   in   it  was   placed   the  loom  which   Mr. 

Lowell  had  perfected,  having  neither  plans  nor  models, 

and   in   that  year  his   company  set   up  a  full  set  of 

machinery  for  weaving  and  spinning,  there  being  1,700 

spindles  in  use.     This  factory  erected  at  Waltham  was 

the  first  in  the  world,  so  far  as  any  record  shows,  in  which 

all  the  processes  involved  in  the  manufacture  of  goods, 

from  the  raw  material  to  the  finished  product,  were  car-  The  scientific 

.  factory. 

ried  on  in  one  establishment  by  successive  steps,  mathe- 
matically considered,  under  one  harmonious  system.  Mr. 
Lowell,  aided  by  Mr.  Patrick  T.  Jackson,  who  was  as- 
sociated with  him,  is  unquestionably  entitled  to  the  credit 
of  arranging  this  admirable  system.  Few  changes  have 
been  made  in  the  arrangement  organized  at  the  Waltham 
factory. 

So  while  England  furnished  the  foundation  of  the  in- 
dustrial structure  known  as  the  factory  system  of  manu- 
facture, America  furnished  the  stone  which  completed 
the  arch. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE    DEVELOPMENT   OF   INDUSTRIES,    1790-1860. 


The  foundation 

of  our  indus- 
tries. 


Expansion 
since  1800. 


Natural 
periods. 


The  impetus  was  now  given  in  good  earnest  for  the 
rapid  development  of  the  great  industries  of  the  country. 
Their  foundations  had  been  laid  in  colonial  days  in  the 
constitution  of  1789  and  in  the  successful  planting  of  the 
factory  system.  Patriotic  enthusiasm  called  into  exist- 
ence many  societies  all  through  the  states  for  the  pro- 
tection and  encouragement  of  industrial  undertakings. 
All  the  great  industries,  those  that  are  now  the  great 
industries,  as  has  been  stated,  were  in  existence  and  so 
fully  recognized,  not  only  by  this  country,  but  by 
England,  that  they  needed  only  the  fostering  care  of 
enterprise  and  the  persistent  effort  of  proprietors  of 
capital  and  of  labor  to  secure  rapid  development.  From 
the  beginning  of  this  century  to  the  present  time  the 
expansion  has  been  steady  and  rapid,  although  not 
always  constant.  There  have  been  periods  when  ad- 
verse conditions  resulted  in  great  stagnation  here  and 
there,  but  these  conditions  have  always  been  overcome 
and  the  industries  carried  along. 

While  the  story  of  the  development  of  industries  since 
the  organization  of  the  government  belongs  in  a  large 
sense  to  one  grand  period,  it  is  naturally  divided  into 
two  principal  periods,  one  including  the  years  from  1790 
to  i860,  and  the  other  the  years  from  i860  to  the  present 
time.  This  division  is  natural  on  account  of,  first,  the 
Civil  War,  and,  second,   the  renewed  and  accelerated 

132 


The  Development  of  Industries,   1790-1860.      133 

stimulation  which  came  from  the  war,  the  discovery  of 
greater  wealth  of  resources,  and  the  invention  and  adap- 
tation of  new  processes  of  production.  So  the  story,  for 
the  purposes  of  this  work,  is  divided  into  these  two  pe- 
riods, and  the  present  chapter  devoted  to  that  from  1790 
to  i860.  It  is  difficult,  however,  in  this  comprehensive 
history,  to  deal  with  the  extension  of  the  industries  of 
the  country  in  any  particular  detail,  general  statements 
being  all  that  can  be  allowed. 

After  the  success  of  the  power-loom  the  cotton  manu- 
facture took  rapid  strides  and  the  hand-loom  and  the   Displacement  of 

1  .  hand  labor. 

hand-weaver  were  quickly  displaced,  although  they  lin- 
ger in  some  parts  of  the  country,  especially  in  North 
Carolina,  Tennessee,  and  Georgia.  Factories  sprung  up 
on  the  streams  of  New  England  and  the  Middle  States, 
and  purely  factory  towns,  like  Lowell,  Lawrence,  Hol- 
yoke,  Fall  River,  Cohoes,  Paterson,  and  many  other 
thriving  places,  were  erected,  and  before  the  close  of  the 
war  the  industry  had  taken  root  upon  the  banks  of 
southern  rivers. 

The  growth  of  this  particular  industry  well  illustrates 
that  of  all  industries,  and  its  effects  are  certainly  illus- 
trative of  the  results  of  the  new  system.  The  first  facts 
relative  to  the  cotton  industry  which  are  obtainable  are  Cotton 

r  industry. 

for  1 8 10,  when  the  federal  government  made  the  first 
attempt,  through  the  machinery  of  the  decennial  census, 
to  ascertain  the  condition  and  value  of  the  products  of  js™. 
the  country  ;  but  it  is  impossible,  from  the  statements  of 
that  census,  to  ascertain  the  exact  amount  of  the  cotton 
goods  produced,  although  the  value  of  cotton,  wool,  flax, 
hemp,  and  silk,  including  stockings,  amounted  to  $39,- 

497-057- 

In  1831  there  were  801  cotton  factories  in  the  whole  Cotum  factory 

0  in  1S31. 

country  ;  in  1840  there  were  1,240  ;  in  [850  there  were 


134      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Increased 
consumption 
'  of  cotton. 


1,074,  and  in  i860  there  were  1,091.  This  decrease  in 
the  number  of  establishments  since  1850  is  the  result  of 
consolidation  and  the  establishment  of  large  works,  the 
smaller  factories  having  closed  or  united  with  the  larger 
ones.  While  the  number  of  factories  decreased  in  the 
thirty  years  prior  to  i860,  the  consumption  of  cotton 
and   the   production  of  goods   steadily   increased.      In 


1831. 


Weaving  Room  in  a  Southern  Cotton-Mill. 

1 83 1  the  total  number  of  spindles  in  this  industry  was 
1,246,703,  while  in  i860  the  number  had  increased  to 
5>235>727>  and  the  number  of  looms  arose  from  33,433 
in  1 83 1  to  126,313  in  i860.  The  capital  invested  in  the 
cotton  industry  in  1831  was  $40,612,984,  and  in  i860 
$98,585,269.  The  value  of  the  products  in  1831  cannot 
be  stated.  The  value  of  cotton  goods  in  i860  was  $115,- 
681,774,  there  being  $79,359,900  produced  in  the  New 


The  Development  of  Industries,   ijgo-1860.      135 

England  States,  $26,534,700  in  the  Middle  States,  $8,- 
460,337  in  the  Southern  States,  and  $1,326,837  in  the 
Western  States.  In  1S31  there  -was  but  $290,000  in- 
vested in  the  Southern  States  in  the  cotton  industry,  but 
in  i860  these  states  used  a  capital  of  $9,840, 221.  So  at 
the  close  of  our  first  period  the   Southern  States  had  Cotton jn.i 

r  111  the  Southern 

demonstrated  the  fact  that  the   cotton    industry    could  states, 
exist  there.     This  great  representative  industry  was  on 
a  firm  basis  at  the  close  of  the  first  period. 

In  the  chapters  relating  to  industries  in  the  colonial 
days  but  little  could  be  said  of  the  iron  industry,  be-   .      ... 

J  J  '  Iron  industry. 

cause  it  had  not  been  developed  to  so  great  an  extent  at 
the  close  of  the  colonial  period  as  some  other  industries  ; 
but  early  in  the  present  century,  and  in  fact  during  the 
closing  decennial  period  of  the  last,  the  manufacture  of 
iron  assumed  gratifying  proportions.  It  had  an  existence 
in  the  eastern  part  of  Pennsylvania  and  in  the  other 
colonies,  but  it  had  not  successfully  crossed  the  Alle- 
ghenies,  although  it  had  received  new  impulse  east  of 
the  mountains  after  the  Revolution.  The  counties  of 
Chester,  Lancaster,  and  Berks  were  conspicuous  in  the 
development  of  the  great  staple  manufacturing  industry 
of  Pennsylvania  in  the  early  part  of  the  period  now  un- 
der consideration.  Mr.  Swank,  in  his  excellent  work, 
"  Iron  in  All  Ages,"  states  that  many  blast  furnaces  and  General  prog- 
forges  and  a  few  rolling  and  slitting-mills  were  built  in  industry. 
these  counties  before  1800,  and  that  their  activity  con- 
tinued after  the  beginning  of  the  present  century. 
Other  iron-producing  counties  of  the  eastern  half  of 
Pennsylvania  joined  in  the  general  progress  of  the  in- 
dustry, giving  it  a  firm  foundation  which  has  never  been 
shaken. 

Western  Pennsylvania  was,  of  course,  later  in  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  iron  industry  than  the  eastern  part. 


136      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Discovery  of 
ore  west  of  the 
Alleghenies. 


First  foundry 
at  Pittsburg. 


Revolution  in 
iron  industry. 


There  is  a  tradition  that  the  first  discovery  of  iron  ore 
west  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains  was  made  by  John 
Hayden  in  the  winter  of  1789-90,  on  the  eve  of  the  new 
period.  The  fact  is,  however,  as  testified  to  by  good 
authorities,  that  iron  had  been  discovered  at  least  nine 
years  before  Hayden' s  alleged  discovery  ;  but  whenever 
the  discovery  was  made,  it  was  the  opening  of  a  wonder- 
fully successful  industrial  career  which  has  rarely  been 
equaled  in  the  history  of  a  people,  and  the  development 
of  the  industry  in  the  western  counties  of  Pennsylvania 
was  rapid  and  satisfactory. 

Of  course,  some  districts  were  abandoned  and  others 
took  their  places,  but  Allegheny  County,  the  great  iron- 
producing  county  of  western  Pennsylvania,  began  its 
operations  at  a  practically  recent  period,  a  small  furnace 
being  built  by  one  George  Anshutz,  who  is  called  the 
pioneer  of  the  iron  manufactures  of  Pittsburg,  in  1792. 
In  1794  it  was  abandoned  for  want  of  ore.  It  had  been 
expected  that  ore  could  be  obtained  in  the  vicinity,  but 
the  expectation  was  not  realized.  This  enterprise  was 
very  largely  devoted  to  the  casting  of  stoves  and  grates. 
Anshutz  removed  to  Huntingdon  County,  where,  with 
others,  he  built  the  Huntingdon  furnace  in  1796. 

The  first  iron  foundry  at  Pittsburg  was  established  in 
1803,  on  the  site  of  the  present  post-office  and  the  city 
hall  of  that  place.  From  these  beginnings  Pittsburg  in 
1829  had  grown  to  the  dignity  of  having  eight  rolling- 
mills,  using  6,000  tons  of  blooms  and  1,500  tons  of  pig- 
iron.  In  the  same  year  there  were  nine  foundries,  while 
in  1 83 1  two  steel  furnaces  were  in  operation  at  Pitts- 
burg. In  1856  there  were  in  Pittsburg  and  in  Allegheny 
County  twenty-five  rolling-mills. 

About  the  year  1840  a  revolution  was  created  in  the 
iron  industry  of  the  country  by  the  introduction  of  bi- 


The  Development  of  Industries,   iygo-1860.      137 

tuminous  and  anthracite  coal  in  the  blast  furnace,  and 
since  about  1850  the  manufacture  of  charcoal  iron  in 
Pennsylvania  furnaces  has  declined. 

These  two  great  industries  are  indicative  of  the  whole   indicative 

0  g  character  of 

expansion,  for  in  nearly  all  industries  the  conditions  of  textile  and  iron 
.  .  industries. 

growth  were  practically  the  same.     This  growth  can  be 

clearly  understood  by  stating  the  results  of  two  accounts 
of  manufactures,  one  taken  in  18 10  and  the  other  in 
i860.  For  the  first  year  the  marshals  employed  in  tak- 
ing the  census  reported  the  value  of  goods  manufactured 
by  the  loom,  of  cotton,  wool,  flax,  hemp,  and  silk,  witli 
stockings,  as  stated,  at  $39,497,057  ;  other  goods  of 
these  five  materials,  spun,  $2,052,120;  instruments  and 
machinery  manufactured,  $186,650  ;  carding,  fulling, 
and    floor-cloth   stamping   by  machinery,   $5,957,816  ; 

hats  of  wool,  fur,  etc.,  and  of  mixtures  of  them,  $4,  w-   Prod"cts  in 

.  ^  °  1810. 

744;  manufactures  of  iron,  $14,364,526;  manufactures 

of  gold,  silver,  set  work,  mixed  metals,  etc.,  $2,483,912  ; 
manufactures  of  lead,  $325,560;  soap,  tallow  candles, 
wax,  and  spermaceti,  spring  oil  and  whale  oil,  $1,766,- 
292;  manufactures  of  hides  and  skins,  $17,935,477; 
manufactures  from  seeds,  $858,509;  grain,  fruit,  and  case 
liquors,  distilled  and  fermented,  $16,528,207;  dry  manu- 
factures from  grain,  exclusively  of  flour,  meal,  etc., 
$75,766;  manufactures  of  wood,  $5,554,708;  manufac- 
tures of  essences  and  oils,  of  and  from  wood,  $179, 150  ; 
refined  or  manufactured  sugars,  $1,415,724;  manufac- 
tures of  paper,  pasteboard,  cards,  etc.,  $1,939,285  ; 
manufactures  of  marble,  stone,  and  slate,  $462, 115;  glass 
manufactures,  $1,047,004  ;  earthen  manufactures,  $259,- 
720;  manufactures  of  tobacco,  $1,260,378;  drugs, 
dye-stuffs,  paints,  etc.,  and  dyeing,  $500,382  ;  cables  and 
cordage,  $4,243,168;  manufactures  of  hair,  $129,731  ; 
various  and  miscellaneous  manufartures,  $4,347,601. 


138       Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 

Mr.  Tench  Coxe,  acting  under  the  directions  of  the 
Sepo£Sf  secretary  of  the  treasury,  Mr.  Albert  Gallatin,  made  a 

l8l3-  valuable  analysis  of  the  manufacturing  products  of  the 

United  States,  and  the  foregoing  figures  are  taken  from 
his  statement.  His  report  was  completed  in  May,  1813, 
and  published  by  Congress.  The  total  value  of  all  the 
manufactures  of  the  country  in  18 10,  as  given  by  Mr. 
Coxe,  was  $127,694,602.  By  estimating  the  omitted 
products  Mr.  Coxe  extended  this  amount  to  $172,762,- 
676,  and  by  adding  some  doubtful  articles,  embracing 
such  manufactures  as  from  their  nature  were  nearly  allied 
to  agriculture,  as,  for  example,  cotton-pressing,  flour 
and  meal,  productions  of  grain  and  sawmills,  the  manu- 
facture of  bricks,  tiles,  and  some  other  articles,  he  con- 
cluded that  the  aggregate  value  of  the  manufactures  of 
every  description  in  the  United  States  in  18 10  was 
$198,613,474. 

The  distribution  of  this  vast  product  over  the  states 
Distribution  of  shows  that  Pennsylvania  stood  at  the  head,  with  $33,- 
overPthe states.  69 1, 1 1 1,  New  York  coming  next  with  over  $25,000,000; 
then  Massachusetts,  with  nearly  $22,000,000  ;  Virginia, 
with  $15,250,000,  in  round  numbers;  Maryland,  with 
nearly  $1 1,500,000 ;  Connecticut,  with  over  $7,750,000; 
New  Jersey,  with  over  $7,000,000;  North  Carolina,  with 
over  $6,500,000;  Kentucky,  with  over  $6,000,000, 
while  Vermont,  New  Hampshire,  Rhode  Island,  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Maine  manufactured  products 
varying  from  $3,500,000  to  $5,500,000,  in  round  num- 
bers. 

In  i860  the  value  of  the  products  of  American  me- 

Products  in        chanical   industries   had   reached    $1,885,861,676,    but 

the  statement  by  industries  for  that  year  cannot  be 

given  in  detail.     The  values  may  be  given  for  some  of 

the  principal  industries,  however.    The  total  value  of  all 


The  Development  of  Industries^   iygo-1860.     139 

kinds  of  cotton  goods  was  $115,681,774.     The  value  of 
woolen  goods  was  $61,895,217.     Clothing  had  by  this   GrowthoJ 

o  iri     jw        1  a  j  clothing 

time  become  a  great  industry.  It  had  grown  up  within  industry, 
a  few  years  of  the  close  of  the  first  period,  and  in  all  the 
principal  cities  had  become  an  industry  of  magnitude  and 
importance,  the  value  of  the  product  being  $73,219,765. 
The  great  industry  of  boots  and  shoes,  which  is  closely 
allied  to  that  of  clothing,  and  which  was,  at  the  period 
being  considered,  beginning  to  feel  the  influence  of  the 
factory  system  of  labor,  represented,  in  i860,  a  product 
worth  $91,891, 498. 

A  new  industry  had  come  into  existence  in  the  form  of 
water-proof  goods.  There  are  but  few  branches  show- 
ing a  more  remarkable  development  than  this,  for  in  the 
space  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  rubber  had  been  ap- 
plied in  very  many  departments  of  production  of  the 
arts  and  sciences  and  domestic  economy;  yet  in  i860 
this  industry  was  practically  in  its  infancy,  the  value  of 
the  india  rubber  goods,  however,  amounting  to  $5,768,- 
450.  These  figures,  which  will  be  brought  into  compari- 
son in  the  next  period,  need  not  be  extended  here. 
They  are  more  emphatic  when  compared  with  the  results 
for  1890. 

The  distribution  of  the  manufactures  over  the  states 
and  territories  in  i860  was,  of  course,  far  more  general  mLSnuVacti?rcs0f 
than  in  18 10,  not  only  through  the  increase  in  the  num- 
ber of  states  and  the  extension  of  manufactures  in  con- 
sequence, but  also  over  the  states  that  were  named  for 
1 8 10.  New  York,  however,  led  all  the  states  in  i860, 
the  value  of  her  manufactures  for  the  year  being  379 
million.  Pennsylvania  came  second,  with  over  290  mil- 
lion, Massachusetts  being  third,  with  over  255  million. 
These  three  states  are  the  only  ones  which  passed  the 
200  million  line  ;  and  there  was  only  one  state  coming 


140      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Influences 
resulting  in 
expansion. 


Patents. 


between  100  million  and  200  million,  Ohio,  which  pro- 
duced 122  million  dollars'  worth  of  goods,  while  in  1810 
her  productions  were  too  insignificant  for  mention.  The 
states  passing  the  50  million  line  were  Connecticut,  with 
nearly  82  million  ;  New  Jersey,  with  over  76  million  ; 
California,  with  over  68  million  ;  Illinois,  with  over  573^ 
million  ;  Virginia,  with  over  50}^  million.  All  the  other 
states  came  below  the  50  million  line. 

The  influences  which  brought  about  this  great  expan- 
sion of  our  manufacturing  industries  prior  to  i860  were 
referred  to  in  opening  this  chapter.  There  had  been 
fluctuations  growing  out  of  the  War  of  181 2,  the  stagna- 
tions of  1837,  and  the  depression  of  1857,  but  from  1830 
the  course  was  constant  and  upward.  The  influences 
which  secured  this  must  be  considered  as  permanent  and 
as  not  affected  materially  by  periods  of  depression,  arti- 

/cial  stimulation,  or  the  forces  of  war  in  either  direction. 
Among  these  influences  the  ingenuity  of  American  in- 
ventors should  not  be  lost  sight  of,  and  the  inventions  re- 
sulting from  the  exercise  of  this  ingenuity  were  adopted 
with  eagerness  by  the  American  manufacturers.  New 
processes,  simplifying  methods  and  reducing  cost,  were 
constantly  sought  for  and  applied.  It  is  a  curious  fact, 
well  known  to  those  familiar  with  patents,  that  depressed 
periods  often  result  in  the  stimulation  of  invention.  In 
1857  there  were  2,900  patents  issued,  438  being  for  agri- 
cultural implements  and  processes.  These  related  to  the 
invention  and  improvement  of  cotton-gins,  rice-cleaners, 
and  fertilizers.  The  very  next  year,  the  year  following 
the  financial  crisis,  there  were  3,710  patents  issued,  562 
of  these  relating  to  agricultural  implements  and  processes, 
152  being  for  improvements  in  reaping  and  mowing  ma- 
chines, 42  for  improvements  in  cotton-gins  and  cotton 
presses,  164  for  improvements  in  steam-engines,  and  198 


The  Development  of  Industries,   1 790-1860.      141 


for  improvements  in  railroads  and  railroad  cars.  Prior  to 
1849  the  number  of  patents  issued  had  never  exceeded 
660  annually,  but  from  1849  to  i860,  inclusive,  the  num- 
ber never  fell  below  1,000,  except  for  the  years  1850, 
1851,  and  1853,  while  for  i860  the  number  rose  104,819. 

It  would  be  very  interesting,  and  very  profitable  too, 
to  the  student  of  the  evolution  of  American  industries  to 
examine  carefully  the  character  of  the  inventions  granted  inventions, 
during  the  last  twenty  or  thirty  years  of  the  period  end- 
ing with  i860,  and  in  this  period  it  would  be  found  that 
there  were  patented  some  of  the  most  important  inven- 
tions of  the  age,  important,  at  least,  in  respect  to  the 
wants  of  the  people. 
They  related  to  im- 
provements  in 
looms  for  producing 
figured  fabrics  ;  to 
air-heating  stoves, 
cooking  stoves, 
musical  instru- 
ments, firearms, 
sewing   machines, 

printing  presses,  boot  and  shoe  machinery,  rubber 
goods,  floor-cloths,  and  thousands  of  other  inventions 
tending  to  raise  and  improve  the  standard  of  the  living 
of  the  people. 

Perhaps  the  most  striking  illustration  of  the  influ- 
ence of  inventions  is  to  be  found  in  the  manufacture  of 
boots  and  shoes,  to  which  reference  has  already  been 
made.  This  industry  was  formerly  carried  on  in  little 
shops,  in  which  a  lew  nun,  rardy  more  than  four,  worked 
upon  the  bench,  upon  stock  received  from  the  manufac 
Hirer,  cut  out  and  ready  to  be  put  together.  These 
little  shops  are  closed  ;  the  great  shoe  factory  has  taken 


Thk  Sewing  Machine. 


Bool  nil)  shoc- 
nuikiiij^. 


142       Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  Stales. 

their  place,  and  in  it  is  to  be  seen  the  perfect  adaptation 
Application  of     of  the  manufacture  of  goods  by  successive,  harmonious 

harmonious  _,,.,.  .  , 

processes.  processes.      lo   all    industries    where   such    successive, 

harmonious  processes  can  be  applied,  that  is,  where 
raw  material  can  be  converted  into  finished  goods  by 
consecutive  actions,  carried  along  by  a  central  power, 
the  factory  system  of  labor  has  been  adapted.  In 
all  textile  manufactures  this  has  been  the  case,  while 
outside  the  textile  trades  the  expansion  of  the  new  sys- 
tem has  been  rapid,  until  the  statistics  of  industry  in  the 
United  States  comprehend  in  large  degree  the  statistics 
of  manufactures  under  the  factory  system. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   CIVIL    WAR  ;    AN    INDUSTRIAL    REVOLUTION. 

With  the  Civil  War  there  began  a  new  industrial  era, 
not  only  on  account  of  the  expansion  of  mechanical  New  industrial 
industries,  as  related,  but  on  account  of  the  wonderful  e 
change  in  the  system  of  labor  which  prevailed  in  a  large 
part  of  the  country.  In  all  that  has  been  said  in  this 
work  of  the  development  of  industry  and  of  labor  prior 
to  the  Civil  War,  no  mention  has  been  made  of  the  two 
conflicting  systems  of  labor  which  existed.  Mechanical 
industry  has  flourished  so  far  only  under  the  condition  of 
free  labor.  The  development  of  certain  agricultural  in- 
dustries, notably  those  of  cotton  and  tobacco,  was  car- 
ried on  under  slave  labor. 

It  is  not  thoroughly  essential   that  the   exact  date  of  T  . 

°      J  Introduction  of 

the  introduction  of  slave  labor  into  this  country  should  slave  labor, 
be  stated.  Historians  disagree  as  to  the  year,  although 
they  agree  quite  fully  as  to  the  month,  but  from  all  that 
can  be  learned  it  was  in  August  of  1618,  16 19,  or  1620. 
Stith's  "History  of  Virginia  "  fixes  the  date  in  1618. 
Certain  it  is  that  some  time  during  the  three  years  be- 
tween 1 61 8  and  1620  slaves  were  brought  to  this  country 
and  were  sold  in  the  colony  of  Virginia,  and  slavery  ex- 
isted in  some  parts  of  the  United  States  until  the  emanci- 
pation proclamation  of  President  Lincoln,  January  1, 
1863.     Nearly  all  of  the  colonies  utilized  slave  labor, 

some  of  them,  however,  having'  but  few  slaves,  while  the   Utilised  by 

.       ,  .  .  T  nearly  all  of  the 

system  took  firm  root  in  the  southern  colonies.      It  was  colonies. 

143 


144      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


but  natural,  therefore,  that  mechanical  industry  should 
M«cha™cal.and  receive  greater  attention  where  free  labor  predominated, 
labor.  an(j  that  agriculture  should  receive  the  greatest  attention 

in  those  parts  of  the  colonies  where  slave  labor  was  most 
in  vogue.  So  in  any  account  of  the  development  or 
evolution  of  the  industries  of  our  country  up  to  the  time 
of  the  Civil  War  the  chief  interest  centers  in  those  parts 
of  the  country  where  free  labor  prevailed. 

Most  of  the  Northern  States  abolished  slavery  longbe- 


Abolition  of 

slavery  in 
Northern 
States. 


V? 


1 


A  Virginia  Tobacco  Field. 

fore  the  Civil  War,  but  it  never  played  any  great  part  as 
an  obstacle  or  in  any  direction  in  the  development  of 
mechanical  industry,  although  it  has  played  a  most  im- 
portant part  in  retarding  such  development  in  the  South. 
A  distinguished  southern  financier  has  treated  the  re- 
tarding influences  of  slavery  from  an  industrial  point  of 


The  Civil   War ;  An  Industrial  Revolution.     145 


Influence  of  the 
cotton-gin. 


view  with  great  candor,  with  perfect  knowledge  of  con- 
ditions, and  keen  insight  into  the  influences  which  led  the 
South  to  keep  her  labor  employed  in  certain  restricted 
lines.  *     According   to   this  writer   the   destiny  of  the  t'neconomr 

,  J  conditions  c 

South  was  ruled  by  forces  over  which  her  own  people  slave  labor 
had  little  or  no  control.  Many  events  occurred  outside 
of  her  own  territory  which  affected  her  industrial  history. 
The  inventions  of  Hargreaves,  Arkwright,  and  Cromp- 
ton,  in  England,  the  application  of  the  steam-engine  to 
the  manufacture  of  cotton  goods,  and  the  invention  of 
the  cotton-gin  by  Eli  Whitney,  all  contributed  to  con- 
centrate the  attention  of  the  South  upon  cotton-raising. 
The  cotton-gin  made  cotton-planting  exceedingly  profit- 
able, and  its  rapid  extension  was  stimulated  by  the 
English  machinery,  while  the  mobility  of  slave  labor 
added  largely  to  the  inducement  for  its  use.  The  best 
soils  could  be  taken  up  rapidly,  because  labor  could  be 
transported  from  place  to  place  with  little  difficulty. 
The  introduction  of  railroads  aided  in  securing  this 
mobility,  and  this  resulted,  as  Mr.  Trenholm  remarks, 

.  ,      .  -     .  ....  ,      .  .       Mobility  of 

in  the  population  01  the  original  slave  states   being  pn-   slave  labor, 
marily  distributed  over  an  area  much  too  extended  for 
advantageous  occupation  by  so  small  a  number  of  people. 

Invention,  science,  and  the  arts  had  literally  put  a  new  face 
upon  the  earth  ;  the  division  of  labor  had  augmented  the  pro- 
ducing capacity  of  the  masses,  and  multiplied  their  employ- 
ments and  needs,  stimulating  trade  and  diffusing  intelligence. 
The  gold  of  California  and  Australia,  together  with  the  im- 
provements in  navigation  and  inland  transportation,  produced 
universal  activity  in  commerce  and  trade.  Tin-  whirl  and  rush 
of  this  progress  encompassed  the  South  on  every  side;  she 
came  into  contact  with  it  at  (.very  point  of  her  extended  inter- 
ests and  on  every  line  of  her  development  ;    she  felt   its   in- 


*  "  The  Southern  States  1  Their  Social  and  Industrial  llistorv.  Condition,  ami 
Needs,"  a  paper  read  before  the  Social  Science  Association  at  Saratoga,  N. 
Y.,  Septembei  6,  1877,  by  Hon.  W.  I..  Trenholm,  of  South  Carolina. 


146      Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


Immigration 
passed  the 
South. 


Capitalization 
of  labor. 


Immigrants 
unable  to  com- 
pete with  slave 
labor. 


fluence  upon  her  industries,  and  tasted  its  fruits  in  her  expand- 
ing wealth.  Yet  alone  in  all  the  world  she  stood  unmoved  by 
it ;  in  government,  in  society,  in  employments,  in  labor,  the 
states  of  the  South,  in  i860,  were  substantially  what  they  had 
been  in  1810,  when  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade  had  im- 
pressed upon  their  development  the  last  modification  of  form 
of  which  it  seemed  susceptible.  Not  only  had  the  South  re- 
mained unchanged  during  all  this  time,  but  the  flood  of  immi- 
gration which  poured  overall  the  rest  of  the  country  had  passed 
her  by.  Millions  of  men  and  women  from  every  country  of 
Europe  passed  along  the  whole  extent  of  her  northern  border, 
bringing  with  them  the  industrial  secrets  of  every  quarter  of  the 
globe,  and  carrying  their  skill  and  thrift  to  the  uttermost  wilds 
of  the  West ;  they  passed  within  sight  almost  of  the  fertile  soil, 
untenanted  lands,  and  untouched  resources  of  the  South,  where, 
besides,  the  roads,  bridges,  and  railroads  were  already  built, 
cities  and  towns  already  established,  churches  and  schools  al- 
ready existing  ;  but  they  would  not  come  in.  The  conservatism 
and  isolation  of  the  South  are  the  more  remarkable  because 
the  century  was  so  full  of  enriching  progress,  and  because  the 
American  people  have  ever  taken  the  lead  in  exploring  new 
ideas  and  trying  new  methods.  * 

The  result  of  all  these  things  was  the  capitalization  of 
labor  in  the  form  of  slavery,  a  capital  which  possessed 
the  power  of  labor  and  the  ease  of  transition  belonging 
to  capital  itself.  It  is  not  strange  that  immigration 
passed  by  the  South.  It  moved  along  east  and  west 
lines  and  developed  the  Great  Northwest  and  the  West 
generally  ;  but  the  causes  were  largely  industrial.  It  is 
probable  that  immigrants,  could  they  have  competed 
with  the  mobility  of  slave  labor,  would  readily  have 
sought  the  richer  states  of  the  South  rather  than  many 
of  the  unattractive  regions  of  the  West.  The  immigrant 
could  not  compete  with  the  current  cost  of  labor,  nor 
could  he  gain  possession  of  the  rich  soils  of  the  South, 
because  if  he  had  attempted  it  he  would  have  found  them 


*  See  "  The  Southern  States,"  by  Mr.  Trenholm,  already  quoted. 


The  Civil   War;  An  Industrial  Revolution.     147 


occupied.  Then,  again,  the  raising  of  cotton  required 
considerable  capital,  as  well  as  cheap  and  mobile  labor,    Necessjtyof 

*  J  mobile  labor. 

and  in  this  the  immigrant  found  himself  largely  at  a  dis- 
advantage. Free  labor  in  itself  was  too  expensive  for 
both  laborer  and  employer ;  so  many  of  the  whites  of  the 
South  left  that  part  of  the  country  and  sought  other 
regions.  The  census  of  the  United  States  discloses  the 
facts  in  this  latter  respect,  for  it  is  found  that  in  i860 
there  were  277,000  white  persons  who  had  been  born 
in  South  Carolina  still  living  there,  while  193,000  born 
in  that  state  had  found  homes  in  other  parts  of  the 
country.  North  Carolina  retained  634,000  of  her  native- 
born  population  and  272,000  had  left  the  home  state. 
Virginia  showed  like  conditions,  there  being  1,000,000 
of  her  native-born  whites  at  home  and  400,000  had  been 
separated  from  the  state. 

These  facts  relating  to  the  loss  of  native  population   Loss  of  native 

.  .  ......  population. 

show  of  themselves  the  disinclination  of  white  labor  to 

compete  with  slave  labor  ;  yet  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that 
the  chief  cause  preventing  the  introduction  of  the  me- 
chanical industries  in  the  South  is  to  be  found  in  the 
great  expansion  of  territory  resulting  from  the  desire  to 
increase  the  cotton  and  tobacco  crops.  Manufactures 
result  in  concentration  of  population  :  agriculture  in  ex- 
pansion. The  two  interests,  therefore,  were  diverse  in 
the  elements  that  relate  to  population  alone.  The 
southern  planter,  grown  up  under  the  conditions  which 
surrounded  him,  felt  the  necessity  of  having  large  plan- 
tations. His  dignity,  his  happiness  depended  upon  it. 
His  wealth  was  not  so  much  a  matter  of  importance,  so 
long  as  he  could  carry  on  his  plantation,  as  that  inborn 
sentiment  which  leads  a  man  to  adopt  certain  methods  ,,,„,.,-;, ,K  ,,„,. 
of  living.  The  manufacturer  of  the  North  was  an  en-  ;|,mr^uU;"11' 
tirely  different  type;  concentration,  the  handling  of  de- 


148      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  Stairs. 


Antagonism  of 
systems. 


tails,  and  the  adjustment  of  the  elements  of  mechanical 
industry  were  natural  to  him.  Here,  then,  were  two 
types  of  men  and  two  systems  of  labor  that  could  not  be 
assimilated  so  long  as  the  types  of  labor  existed  sepa- 
rately. The  individual  types  of  proprietors  alone  would 
not  have  resulted  in  antagonism,  but  together  with  the 
different  types  of  labor  there  could  be  no  diversified  in- 


Diversification 
of  industry  in 
the  North.' 


I, 


A  Leaf  Tobacco  Sale  in  Virginia. 

dustry  in  the  South,  and  the  manufacturers  of  the  North 
naturally  projected  their  works  along  other  lines.  So  in 
the  North  industry  became  diversified,  while  in  the  South 
the  development  was  always  along  one  line.  As  Mr. 
Trenholm,  already  quoted,  remarks  in  his  valuable 
article,  ' '  industry  and  society  at  the  North  were  borne 
along  in  the  general  current  of  progress ;  at  the  South 
they  were  fixed  in  immovable  conservatism." 


The  Civil   War  ;  An  Industrial  Revolution.      149 

The  southern  slave  laborer's  consumption  was  repre- 
sented by  perhaps  forty  or  fifty  cents  per  week,  may  be  Consuming 

,  .  power  of  states. 

less,  while  the  free  white  laborer's  consumption  was  rep- 
resented by  four  or  five  times  that  amount.  The  indi- 
vidual laborers,  therefore,  could  not  have  been  brought 
into  competition  by  any  legislation,  or  by  any  movement 
of  capital,  or  by  any  movement  of  reform.  Dr.  Franklin 
wrote  an  essay  on  "The  Peopling  of  Countries,"  in 
which  he  said  :  "It  is  an  ill-grounded  opinion  that  by 
the  labour  of  slaves,  America  may  possibly  vie  in  cheap-   Dr.  Franklin  on 

.  expense  of 

ness  of  manufactures  with  Great  Britain.  The  labour  of  slave  labor, 
slaves  can  never  be  so  cheap  here  as  the  labour  of  the 
workingmen  in  Great  Britain.  Any  one  may  compute 
it.  Reckon,  then,  the  interest  of  the  first  purchase  of  a 
slave,  the  insurance  or  risk  on  his  life,  his  clothing  and 
diet,  expenses  in  his  sickness  and  loss  of  time,  loss  by 
neglect  of  business  (neglect  which  is  natural  to  the  man 
who  is  not  to  be  benefited  by  his  own  care  or  diligence), 
expense  of  a  driver  to  keep  him  at  work,  and  his  pilfer- 
ing from  time  to  time  (almost  every  slave  being,  from 
the  nature  of  slavery,  a  thief),  and  compare  the  whole 
amount  with  the  wages  of  a  manufacturer  of  iron  or  wool, 
in  England  ;  you  will  see  that  labour  is  much  cheaper 
there  than  it  ever  can  be  by  negroes  here.''  Very 
many  observers,  from  Franklin's  time  on,  marked  the 
indifference  and  extreme  slowness  of  the  movements  of 
slaves  and  made  calculations  of  the  cost  of  slave  labor  as 

compared  with  that  of  free  labor.     Mr.  Cooper,  a  former 

Pn    1 1  K'lit 
president  of  the  College   of  South  Carolina,   computed    Cooper  of  South 

that  a  negro,  all  hazards  included  and  all  earnings  de-    cost  of  slave 

ducted,   would  cost,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  to  the 

person  who  raised  him,  at  the  very  least,  $500.*    An  in- 


•  Cf.  "  Wages,  or  the  Whip ;  an   Essay  on  the  Comparative  Cost  and  Pro- 
ductiveness  of  Free  and  Slave  Labour,'  bj  Josiah  Conder.    London, 


150      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 

Cheapness  of      vestment  must  be  made,  therefore,  in  the  man  before  his 

siavery"der        labor  is  available  ;  so,  while  the  labor,  when  it  became 

available,  was  so  cheap  that  labor  under  wages  could  not 


Stemming  Tobacco  in  a  Virginia  Factory. 


The  planter's 
disadvantage. 


compete  with  it,  the  capitalist  himself — the  planter — was 
at  a  disadvantage  on  account  of  his  great  outlay  for  the 
labor  which  he  employed. 


The  Civil   War ;  An  Indus/ rial  Revolution.     151 

Mr.  Daniel  R.  Goodloe,  a  North  Carolinian,  who  has 
given  great  attention  to   the  solution  of  the  economic   Mr-  Daniel  r. 

( kxxlloe  <ni 

problems  connected  with  slavery  and  free  labor,  came  to  c,,st  of  slave 

1       •  rr  labor. 

the  conclusion  more  than  fifty  years  ago  that  capital  in- 
vested in  slaves  was  wholly  unproductive  and  had  the 
effect  only  of  appropriating  the  wages  due  to  the  slave. 
He  illustrated  this  proposition  in  various  ways.  One  in- 
stance was  that  of  two  farmers,  one  residing  on  the  south 
bank  of  the  Ohio  River,  in  Kentucky,  and  the  other  on 
the  north  bank,  in  Ohio,  each  cultivating  one  hundred 
acres  and  employing  ten  laborers.  All  their  expenses 
were  the  same,  except  as  to  labor.  The  Ohio  man  hired 
ten  freemen  and  paid  them  wages,  probably  out  of  the 
products  of  his  crops.  The  Kentuckian  was  obliged  to 
invest  $10,000  or  more  in  the  purchase  of  ten  slaves  in 
addition  to  all  other  investments  ;  yet  the  two  farms 
yielded  equal  crops.  The  Kentuckian  received  more 
money  than  the  Ohio  man,  but  Kentucky  was  mule  no 
richer  by  that  fact  than  Ohio  was  by  the  distribution  of  the 
profits  between  the  farmer  and  his  laborers.  Mr.  Goodloe 
has  put  his  illustration  into  concrete  form  as  follows  ::'- 

CAPITAL  NECESSARV  TO  CROW  COTTON  WITH  FRKK   AND   WITH 
SLAVE   LABOR. 

Free  labor.    Slave  labor. 

100  acres  of  land,  at  #20  per  acre $2,000  $2,000   Cost  of  free 

Value  of  cattle,  horses  and  farming  tools  .   .    2,000  2,000  contrasted. 

Food  and  clothing  of  farmer,  food  of  free  la- 
borers, and  provender  lor  horses,  cattle, 
etc 1,000 

Food  and  clothing  for  farmer  and  his  slaves, 
doctors'  bills  for  latter,  and  provender  for 
horses,  cattle,  etc i.ooo 

Value  of  ten  slaves,  at  $  1,500  each 15,000 

Fund  for  paying  wages  to  free  laborers  .    .    .    1,000 

Total  investments $6,000  $20,000 

*Cf.  "  Resources  ami  Industrial  Condition  of  the  South,"  by  Mr.  Goodloe, 
in  Report  ol  tin-  United  States  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  t"i  tin-  yeai 
The  author  is  also  indebted  to  Mr.  Goodloe  personally  foi  furnishing  tins  illus- 
tration. 


152      Iii  dust 'rial  Evolution  of  I  lie   (  nited  States. 


Diversified 

industry 

impossible. 


The  Civil  War 
a  great  labor 
movement. 


Resources  of 
the  South. 


These  two  things,  which  appear  paradoxical  —  the 
cheapness  and  the  cost  of  labor — of  themselves,  pre- 
vented the  introduction  of  manufactures  in  the  South. 
Taken  in  connection  with  the  other  features  referred  to, 
diversified  industry  there  was  an  impossibility. 

The  Civil  War  found  these  conditions;  with  it  they 
all  passed  away.  While  the  war  was  organized  for  po- 
litical purposes,  for  the  establishment  of  a  new  govern- 
ment, it  was  in  reality  a  great  labor  movement — not  so 
intended,  but  so  in  result ;  for  divested  of  all  political 
significance,  divested  even  of  the  conditions  under  which 
it  was  carried  on,  so  far  as  labor  was  concerned,  it  was  a 
war  of  economic  forces,  with  good  or  ill  results  to  the 
industrial  elements  of  the  nation  and  particularly  the 
South,  for  the  South  had  existed  under  a  form  of  labor 
entirely  antagonistic  to  that  existing  at  the  North  and  in 
all  other  lands  where  material  progress  had  marked  the 
growth  of  the  people.  The  South  had  been  waiting,  as 
had  the  late  Count  Chambord  of  France,  for  the  world 
to  turn  backward,  and  to  bring  with  such  turning  the 
wealth  which  comes  from  the  development  of  natural  re- 
sources. These  resources  the  South  possessed  in  great 
abundance.  She  had  rich  deposits  of  iron  and  other 
ores,  and  the  coal  to  work  the  ores ;  she  had  timber, 
pasture,  and  arable  lands  without  stint,  with  water- 
powers  that  might  induce  mechanics  from  all  lands  to 
settle  there ;  she  had  a  climate  to  lure  the  dwellers  from 
inclement  zones;  she  had  scenery  as  varied  and  as  beauti- 
ful as  can  be  found  in  any  of  the  states ;  and  yet,  with 
all  these  great  natural  advantages,  immigration  would  not 
put  itself  into  competition  with  slave  labor.  But  the  war 
came,  the  system  of  labor  was  changed  entirely,  and  the 
South  as  a  result  has  come  into  industrial  competition 
with  the  North  and  with  Europe. 


The  Civil   War ;  An  Industrial  Revolution.     [53 


The  Civil  War  was  an  industrial  revolution  in  another 

sense.      The  North  held  the  mechanical  industries  of  the    Mechanical 

resources  of  the 

country,  and  naturally,  under  the  stimulus  of  the  war,  North- 
these  industries  could  be  expanded  to  almost  any  extent, 
and  they  were  so  expanded,  giving  to  the  North  every 
resource  of  power  which  mechanics  give  to  great  armies. 
The  agricultural  South  could  not  compete  with  the  me- 
chanical North.     The  war,  in  changing  the  form  of  labor 


IfjHT 

18 

WML 

Drying  Room  in  a  Southern  Tobacco  Factory. 

of  the  South,  forced  upon  it  the  adoption  of  the  system 
existing  elsewhere,  and  therefrom  dates  the  mechanical 
development  of  the  Southern  States.  Prior  to  the  war 
there  was  little  expansion  except  over  areas.  The  re- 
sources of  the  South  were  not  appreciated,  nor  were 
they  prospected  to  any  great  extent  ;  but  with  the  close 
of  the  war  attention  was  turned  to  the  elements  which 
are  essential  to  industrial  development.  Before  the 
emancipation  of  slavery  very  many  prominent  business 


Mechanical  de- 
velopment "i 
the  South  after 

till'    W.I!  . 


154      Indus/ rial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 

men  had  taken  the  ground  that  climatic  influences  would 
prevent  the  extension  of  the  factory  system  in  the  south- 
ern portion  of  the  United  States,  and  even  within  a  very 
few  years  public  men  have  insisted  that  the  factory, 
workshop,  and  extensive  works  using  machinery  could 
not  be  carried  on  profitably  in  the  Southern  States  ;  and 
yet,  with  the  development  since  the  war,  there  has  come 
an  extensive  factory  system  there,  and  to  such  a  degree 


Picking  Cotton. 


as  to  show  clearly  that  no  climatic  influence  can  stay  its 
further  development. 

The  statistics  of  the  growth  of  the  South  disprove  the 
old  views  and  confirm  the  wisdom  of  the  men  who  have 
put  their  energy  and  their  capital  into  southern  enter- 
prises. The  South  soon  found  that  besides  the  capacity 
to  raise  cotton  and  tobacco  for  domestic  and  foreign  con- 
sumption, crops  which  constituted  her  chief  source  of 
wealth,  another  great  source  was  hidden  beneath  the 
surface,  consisting  in  the  mineral  deposits  of  the  country. 


The   Civil    War  ;  An  Industrial  Revolution.     155 

This  wealth  is  vast,  indeed,  and  the  statements  relative 
to  it  show  the  basis  of  the  whole  southern  development 
since  the  war.*  The  Southern  Appalachian  region, 
while  it  does  not  cover  all  the  iron  and  coal  resources  of 
the  Southern  States,  probably  contains  the  great  bulk  of 
minerals  of  the  very  best  quality.      It  embraces  a  strip  of  iron  and  coal 

resources* 

elevated  mountainous  country  seven  hundred  miles  long, 
with  an  average  width  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles, 
and  extends  from  the  Pennsylvania  line,  the  great  iron 
region  of  the  North,  southwestwardly  through  Maryland, 
the  Virginias,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  the  Carolinas,  and 
into  Alabama  and  Georgia.  It  is  an  unbroken  coal-field 
of  more  than  thirty-nine  thousand  square  miles,  its  sur- 
face being  a  combination  of  mountain  and  plateau.  The 
vastness  of  this  coal  area  of  the  Southern  Appalachian 
field  is  more  readily  comprehended  when  brought  into 
comparison  with  the  coal  areas  of  other  countries.  It  is 
estimated  that  it  contains  forty  times  the  amount  of  coal, 
accessible  to  economical  production  and  distribution, 
that  was  contained  in  the  coal-field  of  Great  Britain  be- 
fore a  pick  was  struck.  Great  Britain  has  not  begun  to 
exhaust  her  supply,  even  now,  and  with  the  Southern 
Appalachian  field,  containing  forty  times  the  wealth  of 
Great  Britain,  the  South  may  well  feel  that  she  has 
another  natural  source  of  wealth — her  mineral  deposits 
— that  is  inexhaustible  and  that  makes  her  a  power  in 
the  industrial  world. 

The  fear  that  came  after  the  war  that  what  the  southern 
people  considered  their  great  and  natural  staple,  cotton, 
would  not  be  raised  in  as  great  quantities  as  under  the 
system  of  slave  labor,  has  been  entirely  removed  by  the  Cotton  crops 
development  of  that  particular  industry.     The  largest 

*  The  author  is  indebted  to  statements  made  by  Col    Geo.  B,  Cowlam,of 
Knoxville,  Tenn.,  and  by  Major  Goldsmith  B.  W(  it,  ol    fredegar,  Ala. 


156       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  Slates. 


Cotton  crop 
prior  to  the 
war. 


cotton  crop  in  the  Southern  States  prior  to  the  war  was  in 
the  year  before  it  commenced,  i860,  when  4,669,770 
bales  were  produced.  This  quantity  was  not  reached 
again  until    1871,  when   it  was  4,352,317  bales  ;  but   as 


"Cotton  Day"  at  Marietta,  Georgia. 


Cotton  crop  in 

1894. 


Consumption 
of  cotton. 


early  as  1876  the  product  equaled  the  proportions  of  that 
of  i860,  and  since  1876  there  has  been  no  year  when  the 
crop  has  not  been  greater  than  at  any  time  prior  to  the 
war,  while  in  1894  the  production  reached  the  vast 
amount  of  9,500,000  bales. 

While  formerly  the  South  exported  nearly  all  of  her 
cotton  crop,  she  is  now  consuming  a  very  large  percent- 
age of  it,  700,000  bales  having  been  consumed  last  year 
in  southern  cotton-mills.  But  these  statements  belong 
now  to  the  development  of  the  whole  country  since  i860. 


The   Civil    War  ;  An  Industrial  Revolution.     157 


They  are  brought  out  here  simply  as  specific  illustrations 
of  the  truth  of  the  statement  that  the  Civil  War  was  a 
great  industrial  revolution,  not  only  in  light  of  the  fact 
that  it  changed  the  labor  system  of  the  South,  but  that 
it  changed  the  economic  conditions  of  the  South  as  well 
relative  to  her  material  prosperity.  When  the  industrial 
status  of  millions  of  people  is  changed  to  a  directly  oppo- 
site system,  whatever  action  brings  about  the  change 
must  be  considered  an  industrial  revolution,  and  while  it 
is  clearly  true,  in  the  light  of  all  the  history  we  now  have, 
that  the  ultimate  effects  of  slavery  were  harmful  to  the 


Slavery  harm- 
ful lo  industl  Nil 
-ts. 


£n.  \  GSr 


Shipping  Cotton,  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 

best  interests  of  the  country,  the   immediate  influence  its  immediate 

„,  11     1  influence  an 

was  in  an  economic  way  advantageous.     Slavery  enaDUd  ,..,„„„„„ 

■  11  1  .1  advantage. 

the  clear-headed  and  vigorous  early  settlers  to  hasten  the 

work   of  subjugating   the    wilderness  of  eastern   North 


158       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 

America  in  a  measure  which  would  have  been  impossible 

if  there  had  been  no  such  servile   labor  at  their  com- 

Evoiutionof       mand.*     Whatever  service  it  had  to  perform  in  such 

requimi  a  directions,  however,  had  been  completed,  and  the  evolu- 

change.  tjon  Qf  mdustry  jn  the  United  States  required  a  change, 

and  such  change  being  effected  by  the  Civil  War,  makes 

it  the  appropriate  subject  of  a  chapter  on  the  industrial 

history  of  the  country. 


*  "  The  United  States  of  America,"  edited  by  N.  S.  Shaler. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


THE    DEVELOPMENT    OF    INDUSTRIES,     1860-1890. 

The  growth  of  the  manufacturing  industries  of  the 
United    States  since   i860  has  been    so   extensive  and   Census  of  i860, 
varied  that  it  is  difficult  to  select  the  industry  or  group 
of  industries  that  forms  the  most  striking  feature  of  the 

,    Capital  and 

period.  The  United  States  Census  of  i860  reported  product. 
the  capital  invested  in  mechanical  and  manufacturing 
industries  as  $1,009,855,715  and  the  product  as  $1,885,- 
861,676.  The  establishments  were  scattered  through- 
out thirty-nine  states  and  territories,  but  the  center  of 
industry  was  in  the  New  England  and  Middle  States, 
these  states  contributing  sixty-seven  per  cent  of  the 
total  product.  New  industries  have  been  constantly  ap- 
pearing, while  well-established  household  or  neighbor- 
hood industries  have  been  rapidly  developing  and  pass- 
ing under  the  factory  system. 

The  enumeration  of  industrial  statistics  has  been  con- 
fined to  those  in- 
dustries  that 
were  conducted 
by  distinct  estab- 
lishments. For 
instance,  the 
making  of  bread 
is  reported  as  an 

industry  ;  the  total,  however,   includes  onlv  the  manu- 

J  '  '  Total  value  of 

facture  of  bread  as  conducted  in  bakeries,  and  not  the   products. 


MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRIES. 

IN     MILLIONS. 

CAPITAL 

I860 

"""           PRODUCT 
CAPITA! 

100*    1004    !»••    OM    *#••    •  #•»     Tl 

•  •      l«H      •••« 

1 

160      Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


Per  capita 
value  of 
products. 


making  of  bread  in  private  families,  nor  is  cognizance 
taken  of  any  establishment  whose  yearly  product  does 
not  amount  to  $500.  The  total,  therefore,  should  not 
be  considered  as  an  exact  statement  of  the  output  for 
all  industries.  Considering  new  enterprises  and  indus- 
tries that  have  passed  from  the  household  to  the  factory 
system  as  legitimate  elements  of  increase,  the  total  cap- 
ital invested  in  mechanical  and  manufacturing  industries 
advanced  to  $6,525,156,486  and  the  value  of  products 
to  $9,372,437,283  in  1890,  an  increase  of  546  per  cent 
in  capital  and  of  397  per  cent  in  product. ! 

The  per  capita  value  of  products  for  1890  amounted 
to  $149.  If  to  the  manufacturing  we  add  the  products 
of  mining,    amounting    to    $587,230,662,    agricultural 


J 

0H10       >690         !         ,s^     *-J*&*  'MuJi 

QtUunbut 


Ci,Ul.i~*h4. 


KY. 


W.VA 


-'    VA.„ 

■ft*** 


Center  of  Manufacturing,  1S50-1S90. 


improvement      products  valued  at  $2,460,107,454,  and  fishery  products 
manrufaecstsurse0f    amounting  to  $44,277,514,  we  have  a  grand  aggregate 
of  $12,464,052,913,  or  $198  per  capita.     The  applica- 
tion of  science  and  invention  to  manufacturing  processes 
has  extended  to  all  classes  of  industry,  stimulating  the 


The  Development  of  Industries,   1860-1890.      161 


Principal 
industries. 


production  and  resulting  in  a  more  highly  finished  and 
cheaper  product.  New  enterprises  have  been  estab- 
lished in  regions  remote  from  the  established  centers  of 

industry  in   i860,  causing  a  more  equal  distribution  of  Distribution 
1  j  t-   11  1  -ii  -i        and  center  of 

the  product,     r  ollowing  upon  the  rapid  advance  in  the  production. 

population  of  the  Western  States,  large  and  diversified 
manufacturing  enterprises  have  been  established,  and  the 
center  of  the  manufacturing  industries  of  the  country- 
has  moved  slowly  toward  the  west.  In  1S90  the  center 
was  about  eight  and  one  half  miles  south  of  Canton, 
Ohio,  while  in  1850  it  was  near  Mifflintown,  Pa. 

The  principal  industries  in  i860  were  the  textiles,  cloth- 
ing, lumber,  iron  and  steel,  leather,  boots  and  shoes,  flour 
and  meal,  sugar,  paper,  printing  and  publishing,  carriages 
and  wagons,  foundry  and  machine-shop  products,  and 
liquors,  distilled  and  malt ;  the  product  for  these  indus- 
tries forming  over  sixty  per  cent  of  the  total  product  for 
all  industries.     The  increase  in  the  principal  industries 
has  been  in  keeping  with  the  increase  in  all  industries. 
The  total  capital  in- 
vested in  the  several 
branches  of  the  tex- 
tile manufacture,  for 
instance,    increased 
from    $150,080,852 
in    i860   to  $739,- 
973,661  in  1890,  or 
393  per  cent,  while 

the  value  of  product  increased  from  $214,740,614  to 
$721,949,262,  or  236  per  cent.  The  textile  industries 
are  concentrated  largely  in  the  New  England  and 
Middle  States,  those  states  producing  89.37  Per  cent 
of  the  total  value  of  textile  products  during  1890,  tin- 
New  England  States  alone  contributing  50.64  per  cent 


TEXTILES. 

IN  MILLION*}. 

I860  """l 
■"ww    product 

.«**      CAPITAL 

1890 

"■"          PRODUCT 

•  00        10*        BM        4«0        WO       M«        T 

■0 

V           I  .  .1 

; 

i     1 

Textiles. 


1 62     Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  State i. 


Importance  of 
textile  manu- 
facture. 


CoUqd. 


Concentration 
of  cotton  manu- 
facture. 


and  the  Middle  States  38.73  per  cent.  Massachu- 
setts is  the  leading  textile  manufacturing  state  of  the 
Union,  and  produced  25.62  per  cent  of  the  entire 
product  of  the  country  for  1890.  The  importance  of 
the  textiles  in  the  value  and  quantity  of  product,  as  well 
as  the  variety  and  importance  of  the  uses  to  which  the 
product  is  put,  excels  that  of  any  other  single  industry 
in  the  United  States. 

Of  the  different  branches  of  the  industry  cotton 
stands  first.  There  were  1,091  establishments  en- 
gaged in  the  manufacture  of  cotton  in  i860,  with  an 
average  product  of  $106,033  and  an  average  of  4,799 
spindles  per  establishment.  In  1890  there  were  905 
establishments,  with  an  average  product  of  $296,112 
and  an  average  of  15,677  spindles,  an  increase  of  179 
per  cent  in  the  product  and  of  227  per  cent  in  the 
number   of   spindles   per   establishment.       During   the 

same  period  the  ag- 
gregate capital  in- 
vested in  the  industry 
increased  from  $98,- 
585, 269  to  $354,020,- 
843,  or  259  per  cent, 
and  the  value  of  prod- 
uct from  $115,681,- 
774  to  $267,981,724,  or  132  per  cent.  The  decrease  in 
the  number  of  establishments  and  increase  in  the  value  of 
product,  as  well  as  the  increase  in  the  size  of  the  average 
establishment,  indicate  the  extent  to  which  the  industry 
has  been  concentrated  in  fewer  and  larger  establishments. 
While  phenomenal  increases  appear  for  all  branches  of 
the  textile  industry  since  1 860,  the  concentration  is  not 
so  marked  in  the  other  branches  as  it  is  in  the  cotton 
manufacture. 


COTTON. 

IN  MILLIONS. 

.«,-,.      CAPITAL 
860 

PRODUCT 

.__-.     CAPITAL 

690 

PRODUCT 

80       100      1S0     too      ISO      &oo      &so 

1 

The  Development  of  Industries,   1860-1890.     163 


The  capital  invested  in  the  different  branches  of 
wool  manufacture  increased  from  $38,814,422  to  $245,- 
886,743,  or  533  per  cent,  and  the  product  from  $73,- 
454,000  to  $270,527,511,  or  268  per  cent,  and  the  num- 
ber of  looms  and  spindles  from  16,075  and  639,700 
to  69,658  and  2,793,147,  respectively.  The  average 
value  of  product  per  establishment  in  i860  was  $49,- 
766,  and  in   1890  $159,792.     During  the  same  period 


Woolens. 


Ha  ' 

1 

H 

Eft  -■  •  X1    It  lI^&«mm~~    s  •  1 

***§/' 

KHHV  //dHH '  "■'■?! 

MS-!-                  Jy. 

HSj^wBiH 

Hand-Loom  now  in  Use  in  North  Carolina. 

there  was  an  increase  ot  217  in  the  number  of  estab- 
lishments and  of  thirty  looms  and  1,217  spindles  per  es- 
tablishment. The  application  of  inventions  to  textile 
machinery,  especially  to  that  employed  in  the  wool  manu- 
facture, has  lesulted  in  a  greater  variety  of  the  more 
highly  finished,  products,  and  has  so  increased  the  pro- 
ductive capacity  of  the  establishments  and  caused  a 
resulting  decrease  in  values  that  the  quantity  rather  than 
the  value  of  product  should  be  used  in  ascertaining  the 


The  applii  ation 
ni  iu\  entions. 


164      Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


Carpets. 


Silk. 


WOOL. 

'in  millions. 

.<»/.«  capital 

'Q60     PPOOOCT 

CAPITAL 

,S9°     PIODUCT 

SO      100     ISO   ZOO     250 

■a 

percentage  of  increase.  Unfortunately,  the  constant 
variations  which  occur  in  the  characteristics  of  the  fin- 
ished product  destroy  any 
general  standard  of  quan- 
tity for  comparison. 

The  manufacture  of  car- 
pets is  one  of  the  most 
characteristic  branches 
of  the  textile  industry  in 
the  United  States,  and 
one  in  which  great  advances  have  been  made  since 
i860.  There  were  two  hundred  and  thirteen  estab- 
lishments engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  carpets  in  i860, 
with  a  capital  of  $4,721,768  and  a  product  valued  at 
$7,857,636.  In  1890  the  number  of  establishments  had 
decreased  to  one  hundred  and  seventy-three,  while  the 
capital  increased  to  $38,208,842  and  the  product  to 
$47,770,193.  The  total  number  of  running  yards  of 
carpet  increased  from  39,282,633  in  1880  to  74,770,910 
in  1890,  or  ninety 
per  cent.  The 
industry  islargely 
concentrated  in 
Philadelphia, 
where  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty- 
three  mills  are  located,  the  product  for  the  city  being 
forty-six  per  cent  of  the  total  output  for  the  entire  country. 
While  the  silk  manufacture  is  one  of  the  oldest  in- 
dustries in  the  United  States,  the  total  capital  invested  in 
i860  amounted  to  only  $2,926,980  and  the  value  of 
products  to  $6,607,771,  being  about  thirteen  per  cent  of 
the  entire  consumption  for  that  year.  In  1890  the  home 
factories  produced  fifty-five  per  cent  of  the  total  con- 


CARPETS. 

IN    MILLIONS. 

1060   ,,««, 

iaao  """" 

PRODUCT 

1 

\        1 

0          14         10        ?4          10         ftS       AC         4d 

BO 

The  Development  of  Industries,  iS6o-\8go.      165 

sumption,  the  product  being  valued  at  $87,298,454, 
while  the  capital  invested  in  the  industry  had  increased 
to  $51,007,537.     The  foundation  of  silk  manufacture  in   Foundation  of 

rj    '_      I'yJyJi  _  silk  nianufac- 

the  United  States  lay  in  the  making-  of  sewing  silk.    The  tun-'- 
adaptation  of  silk  thread  or  twist  for  use  on  the  sewing 
machine  occurred 
in     1 S 5  2     an  d 
created     a     new 
classification      of 
"machine  twist," 
and  gave  impetus 
to  this  branch  of 
the  industry,  un- 
til   the  production  of  sewing   silk  and    machine    twist 
amounted  to  1,119,825  pounds  in  1890.     The  constant   Effect  of 
changes  in  fashions  have  caused  frequent  alterations  and  fashion?  '" 
improvements  in  the  machinery  used  in  silk  manufac- 


SI  LK. 

INlM  ILL  IONS. 

10       20      to       40       60       (0       70      10 

,-„       CAPITAL 
l860,BOOOeT 

ie9oc"p,TflrL 

PRODUCT 

- 

A  Family  Teasing  Wooi 


1 66      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Classes  of 
product  in  1890. 


Dyeing  and 
finishing. 


ture  ;  this  has  resulted  in  great  improvement  and  in- 
creased beauty  and  variety  of  design  in  the  finished 
product.  The  principal  classes  of  product  in  1890  were 
"ribbons,"  valued  at  $17,081,447,  and  "  dress  goods, 
figured  and  plain,"  valued  at  $15,183,134;  the  classi- 
fication of  the  product  of  the  mills,  however,  is  practi- 
cally without  limit.  The  recognized  seats  of  the  industry 
in  i860  were  in  Connecticut,  Massachusetts,  New  York, 
and  Pennsylvania.  The  manufacture  has  spread  and 
large  establishments  are  now  located  in  fifteen  states 
and  territories.  In  i860  the  product  for  New  Jersey 
was  valued  at  $969,700  ;  in  1890  it  had  increased  to 
$30,760,371. 

Another  branch  of  the  textile  industry  worthy  of  con- 
sideration is  the  dyeing  and  finishing,  as  done  by  es- 
tablishments especially  equipped  and  engaged  exclu- 
sively in  this  industry.      In  i860  there  were  one  hundred 

and  twenty-four  es- 
tablishments engaged 
in  dyeing  and  finish- 
ing, with  a  capital  of 
$5,718,671  and  a 
product  of  $11,716,- 
463.  In  1890  the 
capital  had  advanced 
to  $38,450,800  and  the  value  of  products  to  $28,900,- 
560.  While  the  industry  has  increased  rapidly  and  still 
retains  its  importance  as  a  distinct,  integral  part  of  the 
textile  manufacture,  the  textile  mills  have  engaged  ex- 
tensively in  the  dyeing  and  finishing  of  their  own  prod- 
ucts, chemicals  and  dye-stuffs  to  the  value  of  $11,278,970 
being  used  for  this  purpose  by  the  mills  during  the  year 
1890. 

The  revolution  in  the  tailoring  industry  that  followed 


DYEING  &  FINISHING. 

IN   MILLIONS  . 

,860PR0OUCT 

e90«P,T*L 
PRODUCT 

S         10         15        20        IS       30       JS 

..,.,- 

3 

The  Development  of  Industries,   i86o-i8go.      107 


upon  the  invention  of  the  sewing  machine,  resulting  in 
the  combination  of  the  small  shops  and  the  organization  Tailoring, 
of  large  establishments  for  the  manufacture  of  wearing 
apparel,  for  sale  ready-made,  was  practically  complete 
by  i860.  Unfortunately,  no  authoritative  statistics  are 
available  for  the  manufacture  as  distinct  from  the  custom 
tailoring  of  that  date.  There  were  3,968  establishments 
reported  in  i860  as  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
women's  and  men's  clothing,  with  a  capital  of  526,386,- 
443  and  a  product  of  $80,758,344.  The  number  of 
establishments  had  increased  to  19,882  in  1890,  the  capi- 
tal to  $203,812,466,  and  the  value  of  product  to  $446,- 

186,  8^4.     The  rapidly  increasing  demand  for  men's  and 

.  -lit  r  Ready-ma 

boys'  ready-made  clothing  stimulated  the  manufacture  to  clothing. 

such  an  extent  that  it  was  recognized  as  a  distinct  indus- 
try in  1890,  when 
5,067  establish- 
ments were  re- 
ported, with  a 
product  of  $251,- 
803,664.  In  i860 
the  four  cities  of 
Boston,  New  York,  Cincinnati,  and  Philadelphia  manu- 
factured more  than  one  half  of  the  men's  clothing 
of  the  entire  country.  While  the  centers  of  the  indus- 
try necessarily  remain  in  the  large  cities,  the  total  for  the 
one  hundred  and  sixty-five  principal  cities  forming 
ninety-seven  per  cent  of  the  total  product  in  1S90,  the 
manufacture  has  become  greatly  scattered,  establish- 
ments being  reported  for  almost  every  state  and  terri- 
tory. 

The  manufacture  of  clothing  and  articles  of  personal  Ciothing. 
adornment,  exclusive  of  jewelry  and  foot-wear,  has  as- 
sumed enormous  proportions,  the   product  for  such  in- 


TAILORING. 

IN  MILLI  ON3 

I960  e""TRL 

PRODUCT 

l890  C,"""L 

PRODUCT 

bo     ioo     1E.0     ten    (60    a 

30      »M      ■Oi 

M 

1 

1 68       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


Men's 
furnishings. 


Ladies' 

ready-made 

clothing. 


Foot-wear. 


dustries  aggregating  over  $700,000,000  for  the  last  cen- 
sus year.  One  of  the  most  important  of  the  specialties 
into  which  the  industry  is  divided  is  the  manufacture  of 
shirts,  collars  and  cuffs,  and  men's  furnishings.  Two 
hundred  and  nineteen  establishments  were  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  these  articles  in  i860,  with  a  product 
valued  at  $7,218,790,  which  advanced  to  $63,509,539  in 
1890,  the  number  of  establishments  being  1,455.  The 
manufacture  is  confined  almost  entirely  to  the  large  cit- 
ies, the  cities  with  a  population  of  20,000  and  over  con- 
trolling eighty-nine  per  cent  of  the  output. 

The  manufacture  of  ladies'  ready-made  clothing,  ex- 
clusive of  corsets,  hoop-skirts,  and  knit  goods,  was  con- 


LADIES  CLOTHING. 

(IN    MILLIONS. 

5           IO         IS       ZO        25        JO       1 

0       40      4S         SO        SS       60        69 

■860  psoooct  L 

fined  to  ninety-six  establishments  in  i860,  with  a  capital 
of  $473,400  and  a  product  of  $2,261,546,  the  product 
being  restricted  almost  entirely  to  the  manufacture  of 
cloaks  and  mantillas.  The  demand  for  ladies'  ready- 
made  undergarments,  exclusive  of  the  product  of  the 
knitting  mills,  has  become  general  and  has  greatly  in- 
creased the  manufacture.  There  were  1,224  establish- 
ments engaged  in  the  industry  in  1890,  with  a  capital  of 
$21,259,528  and  a  product  valued  at  $68,164,019. 

The  manufacture  of  foot-wear,  next  to  clothing,  is  the 
industry  that  is  the  greatest  promoter  of  personal  com- 
fort and  is  among  the  manufactures  that  were  firmly  es- 
tablished in  1 860,  there  being  a  larger  number  of  persons 


The  Development  of  Industries,   1860-1890.     169 


Shokmakkr  at  the  Bknch. 


engaged  in  it  at  that  time  than  in  any  other  industry   importance  of 
save   that  of  agriculture,   the  operatives  forming  more  industry. 
than  one  twelfth  of  tin  >se  employed  in  all  classes  of  manu- 
facture.     There    were    12,487    establishments    reported 


FOOT  WEAR. 

IN    MILLIONS 

CAPITAL 

tB90 

PRODUCT 

40             80             120              160            ZOO            240           Z60 

=1 

, 

1 

in  i860,  with  a  capital  of  $23,358,527  and  a   product  of  Number  of 
$91,891,498.      These    figures,    however,    include    the  estl*ll8hment8« 
operations  of  the  small  custom  shops.      Data  for  the 


170      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Value  of 
product. 


Specialized 
features. 


factory  industry  in  the  entire  country  were  collected  in 

1880,  when  1,959 
f  a  c  t  o  r  i  e  s  were  re- 
ported, with  a  capi- 
tal of  $42,994,028 
and  a  product  of 
$166,050,354,  the 
total  number  of 
boots  and  shoes  of 
all  classes  manu- 
factured during-  the 
year  amounting  to 
125,478,511  pairs. 

The  industry  has 
now  become  greatly 
specialized,  separate 
factories  being  en- 
gaged exclusively  in 
the  manufacture  of 
boot  and  shoe  cut 
stock  and  uppers, 
also  in  the  making 
of  stiffenings,  heels, 
insoles,  linings,  tips, 
clasps,  strings, 
staples,  and  various 
other  articles  com- 
ing under  the  class- 
ification of  "boot 
and  shoe  findings." 
All  branches  of  the 
industry,  including 
the  small  custom 
The  Champion  "  Pegcer.  shops,      aggregated 


The  Development  of  Industries,    1860-1890.      171 


Oldest  seat  of 
shoe  industry. 


23,684  establishments  in  1890,  with  a  capital  of  $117,- 
923,375  and  a  product  of  $280,215,185.  The  factory- 
industry  proper  was  represented  by  2,082  establishments, 
with  a  capital  of  $95,282,311  and  a  product  valued  at 
$220,649,358,  being-  an  increase  of  thirty-three  per  cent 
in  the  value  of  product  during  the  ten  years  from  1880 
to  1890.  The  total  number  of  boots  and  shoes  made 
in  1890  was  reported  as  179,409,388  pairs,  an  increase  of 
forty-three  per  cent  over  1880.  The  oldest  seat  of  the 
industry  is  in  Massachusetts,  and  the  greatest  production 
remains  in  that  state,  the  product  being  fifty-three  per 
cent  of  the  total  for  the  country  in  1890. 

Among  the  industries  that  contribute  to  the  personal 
wants,  the  manufacture  of  food  products  ranks  next  in  Food  products. 

importance  to  the  textiles  and  the  making  of  clothing.      

According  to  the  United  States  Census  of  i860,  there 
were  16,956  establishments,  with  a  capital  of  $104,927,- 
586  and  a  yearly  product  valued  at  $323,023,598,  en- 
gaged in  the  manu- 
facture of  various 
forms  of  food  prod- 
ucts. The  manu- 
facture of  butter 
was  not  reported 
as  an  industry  dis- 
tinct from  the  farm  product,  nor  did  slaughtering  and 
meat-packing  appear  except  as  the  product  of  the  retail 
butcher.  The  manufacture  of  canned  goods,  in  which  canned  goods. 
1,328  establishments,  with  a  capital  of  $24,522,581  and 
a  product  of  $49,886,305,  were  reported  in  1890,  did 
not  appear  as  a  distinct  industry  in  1S60,  ami  the 
product  of  that  year  was  exceedingly  limited,  it  being 
almost  entirely  a  household  industry. 

The  different  varieties  of  food  products  are  now  prac- 


FOOD  PRODUCTS. 

IN    MILD  ONS. 

I860 
1890 

CAPITAL 
PRODUCT 
CBP1TAL 
PRODUCT 

2  00      400       600        800        1090       1100       UoO        1600 

t=a    1 

| 

172       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


Value  of  food 
products. 


Bakery 
products. 


Flour. 


tically  unlimited,  new  forms  of  tasty  preparations  con- 
stantly appearing  in  the  market.  The  growing  demand 
for  such  articles  has  increased  the  production,  and  the 
grand  aggregate  for  1890  was  41,608  establishments, 
with  a  capital  of  $524,669,429  and  a  product  of  $1,647,- 
477, 291.  The  annual  product  for  each  of  the  four  principal 
branches  of  the  industry,  viz. :  bread,  crackers,  and 
other  bakery  products  ;  flouring  and  grist-mill  products ; 
slaughtering  and  meat-packing  ;  and  sugar  and  molasses 
refining,  exceeds  $100,000,000. 

The  manufacture  of  bread,  crackers,  and  other  forms 
of  bakery  products,  as  conducted  by  distinct  establish- 
ments, conveys  no  definite  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  the 
industry.  The  total  product  reported  for  1 860  amounted 
to  $16,980,012,  and  for  1890  to  $128,421,535  ;  both  of 
these  amounts,  however,  fall  far  below  the  true  value  of 
the  product,  since  the  industry  exists  not  only  in  every 
state  and  territory,  but  in  every  city  and  town  of  any 
importance. 

The  increase  in  the  production  of  flour,  meal,  and 
other  products  of  the  grist-mills  in  the  United  States  has 
been  in  keeping  with  the  increase  in  population  and  agri- 


FLOUR,  MEAL  &c. 

IN    MILLIONS. 

I860  CAP,TAL 

.-„.    CAPITAL 

890 

PR0OUCT 

IOO            ZOO            300            400 

600 

■s™ 



£__^ 

culture.  The  capital  invested  in  the  industry  in  i860 
amounted  to  $84,585,004  and  the  product  to  $248,580,- 
365.  In  1890  the  capital  was  $208,473,500  and  the 
product  $513,971,474,  being  an  increase  of  146  per 
cent  in  capital  and  107  per  cent  in  the  value  of  product. 


The  Development  of  Industries,    i86o-i8go.      173 

While  the  number  of  mills  in  operation  in  1890  shows 
an  increase  over  i860  of  4,602,  the  tendency  during  re-  Flour-mills. 
cent  years  has  been  to  centralize  the  manufacture  in 
fewer  and  larger  establishments.  The  number  of  mills 
decreased  from  24,338  in  1880  to  18,470  in  1890,  while 
the  average  product  per  establishment  increased  from 
$20,757  to  $27,827,  and  the  daily  capacity  from  194  to 
298  bushels.  As  these  figures  include  all  the  small  cus- 
tom mills,  they  convey  no  idea  of  the  size  of  the  average 
merchant  flour- mill.  A  number  of  the  large  mills  are 
congregated  at  Minneapolis,  Minn.,  the  yearly  output 
for  the  city  in  1890  being  valued  at  $30,707,998.  The 
average  capital  invested  by  each  establishment  was 
$431,490  and  the  average  product  $1,228,320.  Owing 
to  the  decrease  in  the  value  of  flour  and  meal  and  the 
large  increase  in  the  daily  capacity  of  the  mills,  which 
has  advanced  from  4,730,106  bushels  in  1880  to  5,495,- 
562  bushels  in  1890,  the  increase  of  107  per  cent  given 
above  as  the  increase  in  value  of  product  does  not  con- 
vey a  correct  idea  of  the  actual  increase  during  the  thirty 
years. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


Meat-packing 

and 

slaughtering. 


Cheese. 


THE    DEVELOPMENT   OF    INDUSTRIES,    1860-189O 

(Concluded}. 

Authentic  data  concerning  meat-packing  and  slaugh- 
tering were  first  gathered  at  the  census  of  1870,  the  first 
appearance  of  the  industry,  as  conducted  by  distinct 
establishments  producing  for  the  trade,  being  in  the  dec- 
ade of  years  from  i860  to  1870.  In  1870  there  were  259 
establishments  reported,  with  a  capital  of  $22,124,787 
and  a  product  of  $62,140,439.     The  number  of  establish- 


MEAT  PACKING  8c  SLAUGHTERING-. 

IN    MILLIONS. 


1870 
1690 


CAPITAL 
PRODUCT 
CAPITAL 
PRODUCT 


2=3 


ments  had  increased  to  1,118  in  1890,  the  capital  to 
$116,887,504,  and  the  product  to  $561,611,668.  The 
principal  seats  of  the  industry  are  in  Chicago,  111. ,  and 
Kansas  City,  Kan.,  the  product  for  the  two  cities  form- 
ing forty-three  per  cent  of  the  product  for  the  United 
States. 

As  previously  stated,  the  manufacture  of  butter  did 
not  appear  as  a  distinct  industry  from  the  agricultural 
products  prior  to  1 860.  The  manufacture  of  cheese  as  a 
distinct  industry  appears  also  to  have  been  insignificant 

174 


The  Development  of  Industries,   1860-iSyo.      175 

during  i860.  The  total  quantity  of  cheese  and  butter 
made  as  a  dairy  product  during  that  year  was  103,663,- 
927  and  459,681,372  pounds,  respectively.  The  manu- 
facture of  cheese  in  factories  increased  rapidly  during 
the  ten  years  from  i860  to  1870,  as  in  the  latter  year 
1,313  cheese  factories  Mere  reported,  with  an  annual 
product  valued  at  $16,771,665,  and  producing  109,435,- 
229  pounds  of  cheese  ;  there  were  other  products  of  the 
factories,  in  which  there  was  considerable  butter,  all 
valued  at  $16,096.  There  were  4,552  factories  reported 
as  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  cheese,  butter,  and 
condensed  milk  in  1890,  with  a  product  valued  at  $60,-   Butter  and 

.  cheese  now  fac- 

635.705.  The  total  quantity  of  cheese  was  reported  as  tory  products. 
238,035,065  pounds  and  of  butter  181,284,916  pounds. 
Combining  these  totals  with  the  dairy  or  farm  product 
gives  a  grand  aggregate  of  256,761,883  pounds  of  cheese 
and  1,205,508,384  pounds  of  butter  made  in  the  United 
States  during  1890.  The  manufacture  of  condensed 
milk  is  a  branch  of  the  industry  that  has  developed  al- 
most entirely  since  i860,  the  product  for  that  year 
amounting  to  less  than  $50,000.  The  product  is  now 
of  an  entirely  different  character  from  that  prevailing  in 
i860,  and  is  sold  in  various  forms.  The  manufacture 
prevails  in  the  states  of  Illinois,  Massachusetts,  Michi- 
gan, and  New  York,  the  total  production  for  1890  being 
37,926,821  pounds,  valued  at  $3,586,927. 

The  manufacture  of  oleomargarine  and  butterine  ap- 
pears first  during  the  decade  of  years  from  1870  to  1880,  oleomargarine, 
following  upon  the  establishment  of  the  slaughtering 
and  meat-packing  as  a  distinct  industry,  the  materials 
used  in  the  manufacture  of  oleomargarine  being  obtained 
largely  from  the  slaughtering  houses.  The  industry  has 
flourished  and  the  total  production  for  [894  amounted 
1069,622,246  pounds.     The  tot il   production  from  No- 


176      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Iron  and  steel 

industry. 


vember  1,  1886,  to  June  30,  1894,  aggregated  353,611,- 
320  pounds. 

In  no  class  of  industry  in  which  the  raw  material  is 
of  the  same  substance  has  there  been  such  a  growth, 
specialization,  and  improvement  in  the  form,  character, 
and  diversity  of  the  finished  products  during  the  past 
thirty  years  as  in  the  iron  and  steel  industry.  The  ma- 
nipulation of  the  crude  and  finished  forms  of  the  products 


Spinning  Room  in  a  Southern  Cotton   Factory. 


Number  of 

establishments 

engaged. 


of  the  blast  furnace,  rolling-mill,  steel  works,  and  forge 
is  unlimited,  ranging  from  the  heaviest  structural  iron 
and  ordnance  to  the  finest  surgical  instrument. 

The  manufacture  of  iron  and  steel  was  among  the 
industries  of  first  magnitude  in  i860,  there  being  652 
establishments,  according  to  the  United  States  census, 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  pig  and  blooms  and  rolled 


The  Development  of  Industries,   i86o-i8go.      177 


iron  and  steel  during  that  year.     Since  1S60  the  rapidly 

increasing  demand  for  all  forms  of  iron  and  steel  has 

greatly  accelerated  the  manufacture,  the  capital  incr> 

ing  from  $48,372,897  to  $414,044,844  in  1890,  and  the 

value  of  products  from  $57,160,243  to  $478,687,519. 

The  tendency  of  the  industry  has  been  to  concentrate  Tendency  to 

special  branches  in  larger  and  better  equipped  plants, 

where  the  latest   improvements  in  machinery  can   be 

readily  adopted,  and  where  the  furnace  and  mill  practice 

can  be  brought  to  the  highest  perfection.     The  increase 

in  the  size  of  the  establishments  appears  from  the  fact 

that  in  1870  the  average  product  per  establishment  was 

$256,446andhad 

increased      to 

$665, 768  in  1890. 

This  tendency 


IRON&STEEL. 

IN  MILLIONS. 


100  too  300  400 


■      .. 


■  ...U 


has  stimulated 
the  reduction  in 
the  selling  price 
of  the  finished  products  and  has  greatly  increased  the 
quantity  of  the  iron  and  steel  manufactured.  The 
value  of  products  increased  from  $207,208,696  in  1870 
to  $296,557,685  in  1880,  or  forty-three  percent,  while 
the  quantity  of  products  increased  ninety-nine  per  cent. 
During  the  ten  years  from  1880  to  1890  the  value  of 
products  increased  from  $296,557,685  to  $478,687,519, 
or  sixty-one  per  cent,  and  the  tons  of  products  increased 
one  hundred  and  fifty-one  per  cent.  The  introduction 
of  the  Bessemer  and  the  Siemens- Martin,  or  open-hearth, 
processes  for  the  manufacture  of  steel,  and  the  substi- 
tution of  coke  for  coal  and  charcoal  in  the  making  of 
pig-iron,  are  the  principal  improvements  in  the  process 
of  manufacture.  The  introduction  of  modern  processes 
for  the  manufacture  of  steel  and  the  increased  demand 


Introduction 
hi'  new 
processes. 


178        Industrial  Evolution  of  tlie    United  States. 


Total  produc- 
tion, 1860-1890. 


Bessemer  steel. 


Cause  of 
development. 


Wire  nails. 


for  this  class  of  product  have  resulted  in  a  greater  pro- 
duction of  steel  than  of  iron.  The  total  production  of 
steel  in  i860  amounted  to  11,838  gross  tons,  and  in  1890 
to  5,049,693  gross  tons.  Notwithstanding  the  large  in- 
crease in  steel,  the  manufacture  of  iron  has  not  declined 
except  relatively,  the  products  of  the  puddling  furnaces 
amounting  to  2,353,248  tons  in  1880  and  to  3,225,140 
tons  in  1890,  an  increase  of  thirty-seven  per  cent. 

Bessemer  steel  was  first  manufactured  in  any  consider- 
able quantities  in  the  United  States  in  1S67,  there  being 
about  2,679  tons  of  ingots  produced  during  that  year. 
Open-hearth  steel  first  appeared  in  1869,  when  893  tons 
of  ingots  were  produced.  So  rapid  has  been  the  ad- 
vance in  the  steel  manufacture  that  the  production  in 
1890  out-distanced  that  of  Great  Britain  by  1,370,650 
tons,  the  product  for  the  United  States  being  5,049,693 
gross  tons,  while  that  of  Great  Britain  was  3,679,043 
gross  tons.  The  principal  cause  of  the  development  of 
the  iron  manufacture  has  been  the  rapid  expansion  of 
our  railroad  system,  stimulating  the  development  of  the 
steel-rail  industry.  In  1880  there  were  33,680  miles  of 
steel  and  81,967  miles  of  iron  railroad  track  in  the 
United  States.  In  1890  the  miles  of  steel  rails  had  in- 
creased to  167,606,  while  the  miles  of  iron  rails  had  de- 
creased to  40,697,  there  being  eighty-one  per  cent  of 
the  total  mileage  laid  in  steel  rails. 

Among  the  other  important  products  of  this  industry 
that  have  appeared  since  i860  is  the  wire  nail.  The 
wire  nail  first  appeared  in  considerable  quantities  in  1884. 
So  constant  and  increasing  has  been  the  demand  for  this 
form  of  nail  that  the  production  in  1890  amounted  to 
2>893,3i6  kegs  of  one  hundred  pounds,  as  compared 
with  2,139,086  kegs  of  iron-cut  nails  and  3,717,944  kegs 
of  steel-cut  nails,   the  total  production  of  nails  for  the 


The  Development  of  Industries,   iS6o-iSgo.      179 

year  being  8,750,346    kegs   of  one   hundred    pounds. 

In  contrast  with  the  prosperity  of  the  iron  and  steel   Decline  in  pro- 
industries,  as  a  whole,  has  been  the  decline  in  the  pro-   blooms  and 
duction  of  blooms  and  hammered  bar-iron  direct  from   bar-iron, 
the  ore.     This  industry  had  reached  considerable  mag- 
nitude in   i860,  the  yearly  product  being  about  30,000 
net  tons,  but  in  1890  the  product  did  not  exceed  8,000 
tons. 

While  various  industries  in  which  iron  or  steel,  in 
some  form,  enters  as  the  principal  material  have  ap- 
peared for  the  first  time  during  the  past  thirty  years,  it 
is  probable  that  none  have  attracted  more  notice  than 
the  manufacture  of  typewriters  and  bicycles  and  tricy- 


The  Dorrance  "Breaker,"  near  Wilkbs  Barre,  Pennsylvania. 

cles.     The  typewriting    machine,    in    its    present    form,    Manufacture ol 

,        .         ,  typewriting 

dates  from  1873,  the  first  machine  having  been   manu-   machines. 

factured  at  Ilion,  New  York.  There  were  thirty  fac- 
tories reported  in  1890  as  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
typewriters  and  typewriter  supplies,  with  a  capital  of 
$1,421,783  and  a  yearly  product  valued  at  $3,630,126. 


i8o      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Bicycles. 


Coke. 


Stimulation  of 
the  production 
of  coke. 


Statistics  of 
coke  produc- 
tion. 


The  manufacture  of  the  modern  form  of  bicycle  dates 
from  1875,  the  first  machines  being  manufactured  at 
Hartford,  Conn.  The  industry  has  become  specialized, 
and  data  that  correctly  represent  the  manufacture  in  all 
its  phases  are  not  available.  In  1890,  however,  twenty- 
seven  establishments,  with  a  capital  of  $2,058,072  and 
a  product  of  $2,568,326,  are  reported  as  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  the  machines  proper,  while  eighty-three 
shops,  with  a  product  of  $301,709,  were  engaged  in 
repair  work  exclusively. 

One  of  the  principal  assistants  to  the  rapid  increase  in 
the  iron  and  steel  industries  has  been  the  production  ol 
coke.     Exclusive   of   the   product   of   gas   works,    the 

manufacture  of 
coke  in  i860 
was  confined 
almost  entirely 
to  Allegheny, 
Cambria,  Clar- 
ion, and  Fay- 
ette Counties,  Pennsylvania.  There  were  twenty-one 
establishments  reported,  with  a  capital  of  $62,300  and  a 
product  of  $189,844.  The  rapid  increase  in  the  iron  and 
steel  industries  and  the  consequent  demand  of  the  blast 
furnaces  stimulated  the  production  of  coke,  and  in  1889 
there  were  218  establishments,  located  in  eighteen  differ- 
ent states  and  territories,  and  reporting  an  aggregate 
capital  of  $17,462,729,  with  a  product  valued  at  $16,- 
498,345.  The  capital  invested  increased  266.11  per 
cent  and  the  product  207.83  per  cent  during  the  ten 
years  from  1880  to  1890  ;  during  the  same  period  the 
number  of  ovens,  pits,  or  mounds  increased  from  10,116 
to  33,906,  or  235. 17  per  cent.  There  were  2,752,475  tons 
of  coke  manufactured  in   1880,  of  which  the  blast  fur- 


COKE. 

IN  MILLIONS. 

....      CP.PITRL 
I860 

PRODUCT 

CWITRL 
1890 

PRODUCT 

I            4             6*6            to           12           14           16 

1 

^ 

The  Development  of  Industries,  1860-1890.        181 

naccs  consumed  77.32  per  cent.     In  1890  there  were  10,- 

008,169  tons  manufactured,  of  which  the  blastfurnaces    Consumption  of 

consumed  92.30  per  cent.     The  use  of  coke  in  the  manu- 


WlLKES  BARRE    "I'.Ki  A.KER   B< 


facture    oi    pig-iron    is    rapidly   superseding   charcoal.   Ch^0m£donof 

During  1890  there  were  only  664,711   tons  of  charcoal 


Increase  in  the 

use  of  coke. 


Petroleum. 


Yearly  produc- 
tion of 
petroleum. 


1 82      Industrial  Evolution  of  tJic   United  States. 

pig-iron  produced,  being  but  seven  per  cent  of  the  total 
quantity  of  pig-iron  manufactured  during  that  year. 

The  greater  care  taken  in  the  preparation  of  the  coal, 
the  use  of  better  ovens,  and  the  introduction  of  more 
economical  methods  of  working,  have  gradually  in- 
creased the  percentage  of  the  yield  of  coal  in  coke,  until 
in  1889  the  general  average  for  the  United  States  was 
63.36  percent,  the  average  for  Pennsylvania  being  65.03 
per  cent.  Pennsylvania  has  uniformly  held  first  place 
in  this  industry,  its  product  amounting  to  73.67  percent 
of  the  total  production  for  1889. 

One  of  the  industries  that  have  appeared  and  assumed 
enormous  proportions  since  i860  is  the  production 
and  refining  of  petroleum.  The  production  of  petro- 
leum in  commercial  quantities  in  the  United  States 
dates  from  the  drilling  of  a  well  by  Mr.  Drake 
(called  Colonel  Drake),  near  Titusville,  Pa.,  in  August, 
1859.  In  June,  i860,  however,  the  daily  product 
of  all  the  wells  probably  did  not  exceed  200  gallons, 
but  in  the  fall  of  186 1  the  daily  production  had  reached 
6,000  or  7,000  barrels.  Petroleum  has  been  found  in 
almost  every  state  and  territory,  but  the  large  producing 
districts,  those  from  which  it  has  been  obtained  in  pay- 
ing quantities,  are  confined  to  Pennsylvania,  New  York, 
West  Virginia,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Colorado,  and  California. 
The  yearly  production  has  increased  with  varying  in- 
tensity, the  highest  point  being  reached  in  1891,  when 
it  amounted  to  54,291,980  barrels.  The  total  produc- 
tion since  1859  amounts  to  about  607,000,000  barrels, 
and  it  is  estimated  that  the  product  of  the  United  States 
constitutes  fifty-seven  per  cent  of  the  production  of  the 
world. 

Following  upon  the  production  of  petroleum  in  large 
quantities,  companies  were  formed  for  the  refining  of  the 


The  Developmait  of  Industries,   i860- 1890.      183 


crude  product,  but  statistics  concerning  this  branch  of 
the  industry  were  not  collected  until  1880,  when  eighty- 
six  establishments  were  reported,  with  a  capital  of  $27,- 
325,746  and  a  product  valued  at  $43,705,218.  In  1889 
the  number  of  establishments  had  increased  to  ninety- 
four,  the  capital  to  $77,416,296,  and  the  value  of  prod- 
uct to  $85,001,198,  there  being  one  hundred  and  six 
separate  refineries,  located  in  nine  different  states.  The 
states   of  New   York,   New  Jersey,   and    Pennsylvania, 


Petroleum 

statistics  for 


PETROLEUM. 

IN  MILLIONS. 


10       20       30       40       SO       to       70       80. 


1380 
1890 


PROOUCTI 
capital  prorr- 
PRODUCT 


however,  produced  seventy-six  per  cent  of  the  total 
product  for  the  year,  the  industry  being  practically  con- 
trolled by  a  few  large  corporations.  The  products  of 
the  refineries  of  chief  value  are  illuminating  oils  and 
naphtha  ;  about  17,000,000  barrels  of  illuminating  oils 
and  over  3,000,000  barrels  of  naphtha  were  refined  dur- 
ing 1889. 

We  have  considered  the  contribution  of  some  of  the 
principal  textile,  clothing,  food,  and  metal  industries  to 
the  industrial  development  of  the  country.  Other  in- 
dustries of  vital  importance  to  material  prosperity  have 
taken  an  important  part  in  the  great  increases  shown  ; 
ranking  among  the  first  of  these  are  lumber  and  the 
manufacture  of  brick  and  tile.     The  product  of  lumber 

...  ...  Product  of 

and  planine-mills  and  the    cutting  and  hewing  of  timber    lumber  and 

,  ,  ,      ,  •  .  planing-mills. 

in  i860  amounted  to  $108,946,393,  and  had  increased  to 

$621,638,934  in  1890.     The  three  leading  states  in  the 


184       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


Increase  in  the 
production  of 
lumber. 


Brick  and  tile- 
making. 


India  rubber 
and  gutta- 
percha. 


industry  in  i860  were  Maine,  New  York,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania.    The  center  of  the  industry  in   1890  was  in  the 


LUMBER  8cc. 

IN   MILLIONS. 

I860 
1890 

100             ZOO              300              400 

500 

600 

1 

BRICK  &TILE. 

IN  MIL  LIONS 

i860  cflP,T"1 

PROOUCT 

10            10             SO            40            SO            00            TO            to 

= 

'""" 



'- — 

"Lake  group"  of  states,  comprising  Michigan,  Minne- 
sota, and  Wisconsin,  the  product  for  these  three  states 
aggregating  $190,410,409,  or  $81,464,016  more  than 
the  total  product  for  the  United  States  in  i860. 

There  were   1,678  establishments  in  i860  reported  as 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  brick  and  tile,  with  a 

capital  of  $7,- 
994,428  and  a 
product  of  $11,- 
263,147.  In  1890 
there  were  5,828 
establishments 
reported,  with  a 
capital  of  $82,578,566  and  a  product  of  $67,770,695, 
being  an  increase  of  502  per  cent  in  the  value  of  product. 
In  i860  twenty-nine  establishments  were  reported  as 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  articles  from  caoutchouc, 
or  india  rubber  and  gutta-percha,  with  a  capital  of 
$3,634,000  and  a  product  valued  at  $5,768,450.  The 
industry  was  largely  confined  to  Connecticut,  New 
York,  and  New  Jersey,  these  three  states  reporting  82 
per  cent  of  the  entire  product.  By  1890  the  number  of 
establishments  had  increased  to  168,  and  the  capital  to 
$36,804,261,  an  advance  of  913  per  cent,  while  the 
product  was   reported  at  $42,887,017,  an   increase  of 


The  Development  of  Industries^  JS60-1S90.      1 8  5 


643   per   cent.     The   product   of  Massachusetts   alone 

amounted  to  $19,492,831,  or  more  than  three  times  the 

entire  value  shown  for  i860,  while  Connecticut,  Mas 

chusetts,    Rhode  Island,   and  New  Jersey  returned  87 

per   cent  of  the   total   product  for  the  United   States. 

The  importation  of  crude  india  rubber  advanced  from   Use  of  crude 

India  rubber. 

2,125,561    pounds    in    1863    to   42,962,554   pounds    in 
1893. 
The  only  remaining-  industry  that  we  shall  consider 

1  •  .1-1  -ill  •  ~^  Printing  and 

as  showing  the  industrial  development  since  i860  is  publishing. 
printing  and  publishing.  The  development  of  the  print- 
ing and  auxiliary  industries  is  a  true  index  to  the  prog- 
ress of  civilization  and  the  advance  in  all  arts  and  manu- 
factures. The  increase  in  the  printing  and  publishing 
industry  of  the  United  States  is  far  in  advance  of  that 
of  any  other  country,  and  has  been  in  keeping  with  the 
rapid  increase  in  population,  wealth,  and  intelligence. 
In  i860  printing  and  publishing,  including  newspapers, 
periodicals,  books,  and  job  printing,  were  reported  by 
1,666  establish- 
ments, with  a  capital 
of  $19,622,318  and 
a  product  of  $31,- 
063,898.  In  1890 
there  were  16,566 
establishments  re- 
ported for  the  same  industry,  with  a  capital  of  $195,- 
387,445  and  a  product  of  $275,452,515.  Seventeen 
thousand  six  hundred  and  sixteen  publications  are  re-  uc^jons.0fpab 
ported  as  being  in  existence  during  1890,  of  whi<  h 
14,901  reported  as  to  circulation,  the  combined  circu- 
lation per  issue  for  this  number  being  69, 138,934  and  the 
aggregate  number  of  copies  printed  during  the  year 
4,681,113,530. 


PRINTINGS  PUBLISHING. 

IN  MILLIONS. 

,9«°    P«'0UC~T 
CRPITRL 

'890„OOOCT 

50            100           ISO           too           ISO 

Era 

, 

""** 

1 86      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Analysis  of 
manufactures. 


Illustration  of 
use  of  raw 
material. 


It  should  be  remembered  that  in  all  statements  of  the 
value  of  total  product,  whether  for  one  census  period  or 
another,  the  values  given  relate  solely  to  the  value  of 
the  goods  at  the  manufactory,  as  a  rule  ;  that  is  to 
say,  the  value  of  the  raw  material,  the  aggregate  wages 
paid,  and  all  the  expenses  of  production,  together  with 
reasonable  interest  and  profit  to  the  producer,  constitute 
the  valuation  given.  No  calculation  has  been  made  in 
any  case  which  would  eliminate  the  raw  material ;  so 
there  is  a  constant  duplication,  and  sometimes  a  redu- 
plication, of  values  in  the  value  of  product,  because  the 
raw  material  of  one  manufacturer  is  the  finished  prod- 
uct of  another.  To  illustrate  specifically,  the  pro- 
ducer of  nails  purchases  his  pig-iron,  of  which  nails  are 
made,  of  the  manufacturer  of  pig-iron,  who  makes  it 
from  the  ore.  The  manufacturer  of  pig-iron  has  re- 
turned his  product  with  the  cost  of  his  raw  material, 
which  is  chiefly  the  ore.  The  manufacturer  of  nails  re- 
turns the  value  of  his  nails  and  his  raw  material,  which 
raw  material  he  purchased  of  the  producer  of  pig-iron. 
The  manufacturer  who  uses  nails  in  the  construction  of 
woodwork,  or  in  any  other  way,  returns  the  value  of 
his  finished  product,  his  raw  material,  to  a  certain  de- 
gree, being  the  nails  or  other  hardware,  the  value  of 
which  has  already  been  returned  by  the  manufacturer  of 
such  hardware  as  his  finished  product,  the  latter' s  raw 
material  having  been  returned  by  the  producer  of  pig- 
iron.  This  simple  illustration  shows  the  difficulty  of  ar- 
riving at  the  exact  value  of  product  in  any  one  year,  and 
also  shows  the  limitations  of  the  statistical  method  in  se- 
curing such  value;  but  as  these  duplications  and  redupli- 
cations appear  in  all  statements  relating  to  the  value  of 
product  for  the  various  years,  the  general  comparison  of 
the  trend  is  fairly  legitimate.     Bearing  these  things  in 


in  one  hundred 
years. 


TJie  Development  of  Industries,   1860-1890.      187 

mind,  when  it  is  stated  that  the  total  productions  of  the 
United  States,  during  the  constitutional  period,  cover-  ma^faculres 
ing  one  hundred  years  of  census-taking,  have  been  ex- 
tended from  twenty  millions  of  dollars,  as  estimated  for 
the  first  census  year  (1790),  to  $9,372,437,283  in  1890, 
it  does  not  matter  much  on  what  basis  the  accounts  are 
taken  so  long  as  the  account  is  fairly  uniform  in  its 
methods  through  all  the  periods. 

The  distribution  of  this  vast  product  for  1890  among 
the  states  shows  that  those  which  were  in  the  lead  in  Distribution  in 
i860  are  now  in  the  lead,  New  York  coming  first,  with 
a  product  of  $1,711,577,671.  Pennsylvania  is  second 
in  line,  with  a  product  of  $1,331,794,901.  Then  comes 
Illinois,  her  product  being  $908,640,280.  Massachu- 
setts, which  was  third  in  i860,  is  now  the  fourth  state 
in  productive  power,  the  value  of  her  manufactured 
goods  in  1890  being  $888,160,403.  Ohio  takes  fifth 
place,  her  product  being  $641,688,064.  These  are  the 
only  states  whose  product  is  over  half  a  billion  dollars 
each.  There  are  several  ranging  from  one  million  to  a 
quarter  of  a  billion  or  more,  and  these  states  are  New 
Jersey  and  Missouri,  with  over  three  hundred  million  ; 
Wisconsin,  Connecticut,  Indiana,  and  Michigan,  with 
about  one  quarter  of  a  billion  each. 

The    center  of  the    manufacturing    interests  of  the 

. . -r  ....  ,  ,  ,.         Influence  of 

country  at  different  periods  has  been  shown  in  the  dia-  inventions, 
gram  given  in  the  preceding  chapter.  The  influence  of 
inventions  in  this  wonderful  expansion  has  been  greater, 
even,  since  1S60  than  during  the  period  ending  with 
that  year,  but  these  inventions  are  altogether  too  numer- 
ous to  warrant  any  specific  mention  thereof,  especially 
as  the  influence  of  some  of  the  most  important  of  them 
is  shown  in  Chapter  XXVIII.,  relating  to  the  influ- 
ence of  machinery  on  labor. 


1 88      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Civil  War 
stimulated 
manufactures. 


Evolution  leads 
to  other  con- 
siderations. 


Manufactures  were  also  stimulated  in  a  vast  degree  by 
the  Civil  War.  The  necessity  of  supplying  great  armies 
resulted  in  driving  our  manufactories  to  the  utmost  ca- 
pacity. The  wonderful  development  of  natural  re- 
sources ;  the  discovery  and  development  of  new  sources 
of  supply  of  the  metals  ;  the  ambition  to  supply  the 
home  demand,  ever  increasing  through  immigration, 
and  to  send  our  manufactured  goods  to  foreign  markets 
— all  these  have  made  the  past  generation  one  of  great 
industrial  expansion.  The  stimulation  given  through 
various  tariff  movements  has  also  had  its  effect ;  but  all 
these  influences  must  be  taken  together  when  consider- 
ing the  evolution  of  the  industries  of  our  country.  This 
evolution,  however,  has  carried  along  with  it  other 
movements  having  a  deeper  social  and  ethical  signifi- 
cance than  the  mere  accumulation  of  wealth,  and  atten- 
tion will  now  be  turned  to  such  matters. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  NUMBER  OF  PERSONS  EMPLOYED  AND  THEIR  TOTAL 
WAGES. 

The  first  authentic  statistics  concerning  the  total  num- 
ber and  wages  of  persons  employed  in  establishments  of 
manufacturing  and  mechanical  industry  of  the  United 
States  are  contained  in  the  reports  of  the  seventh 
census,  being  for  the  year  1850.  The  attempt  was  then 
made  to  ascertain  the  average  number  of  men  and 
women,  respectively,  employed  during  the  year,  with 
the  total  amount  paid  in  wages  for  the  same  period.  The 
average  number  reported  was  957,059. 

At  the  sixth  census,  covering  the  year  1840,  the 
number  of  employees  was  shown  for  a  large  variety  of  employed,  1-!". 
industries,  the  total  aggregating  564,617.  The  total  of 
wages,  however,  was  not  reported,  and  the  number  can- 
not be  accepted  as  a  trustworthy  index  to  the  actual 
number  engaged  in  establishments  of  productive  indus- 
try during  that  year.  The  fact  that  an  attempt  was  made 
to  secure  statistics  on  this  subject,  and  that  the  number 
of  workmen  reported  by  the  establishments  that  re- 
sponded to  the  call  for  information  constituted  three  per 
cent  of  the  total  population,  establishes  the  importance 
of  the  inquiry  at  that  early  date. 

While  prior  to  iSso  machinery  was  extensively  em- 

•i  •  Proportion  "i 

ploved  in  many  lines  of  industry,  tin-  rapid  development   population 

y      J  J  -II     engaged  "> 

of  our  present  system  of  manufactures  may  be  considered   manufectures. 
as  dating  from  that  year.     The  proportion  that  the  num- 

189 


190       Iii dust rili I  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Number 
cin ployed  at 
various  periods 


Proportion  at 
d  i  fTerent 
periods. 


ber  actually  employed  by  establishments  was  of  the  entire 
population  in  1850  and  at  subsequent  periods  is  as  fol- 
lows :  1 850,  4. 1 3  per  cent ;  1 860,  4. 1 7  per  cent ;  1 870,  5. 33 
per  cent ;  1880,  5.45  per  cent ;  and  1890,  7.53  percent. 
The  figures  for  1870,  1880,  and  1890  do  not  include  the 
number  engaged  in  mining,  quarries,  or  fisheries,  but, 
notwithstanding  this  fact,  the  proportion  has  steadily  in- 
creased. The  numbers  of  employees  on  which  these 
percentages  are  based  are  the  average  numbers  reported 
by  establishments  as  having  been  employed  during  the 
year.  If  the  number  of  persons  having  occupations 
that  fall  in  the  different  mechanical  and  manufacturing 
pursuits,  irrespective  of  whether  they  are  employed  by 
establishments,  work  independently  at  odd  jobs,  or  are 
idle,  is  considered,  it  will  be  found  that  the  proportion 
they  form  of  the  total  population  at  the  different  cen- 
sus periods  is  as  follows  :  i860,  5.91  per  cent ;  1870, 
6.36  per  cent;  1880,  6.81  per  cent;  and  1890,  8.13 
per  cent.  The  total  population  is  used  in  computing 
these  percentages  ;  therefore  they  should  not  be  con- 
sidered as  indicating  the  proportion  that  those  actually 
engaged  in  such  occupations  are  of  the  total  number 
who  could  so  engage.  If  the  percentage  for  1890  is 
based  on  the  population  of  fifteen  years  of  age  and  over, 
it  will  be  found  that  those  having  mechanical  or  manu- 
facturing occupations  amount  to  12.61  per  cent  of  the 
total. 

While  data  concerning  actual  and  average  wages  of 
Basis  of  discus-  all  classes  of  mechanics  have  been  collected  and  are  dis- 

sion. 

cussed  in  a  subsequent  chapter,  the  facts  presenting  the 
aggregate  amounts  expended  in  wages  have  been  con- 
fined to  the  operations  of  establishments  of  productive 
industry.  In  other  words,  no  attempt  has  been  made  to 
ascertain  the  grand  total  of  the  earnings  of  all  persons 


Number  of  Employees  and  Total   Wages.       191 


TOTAL  NUMBER  OF  EMPLOYES. 

IN    MILUONS. 

1850 
1890 

1                      2                      3                      ■* 

f 

engaged    in   mechanical  and   manufacturing  industries. 

The  increase  in  the  number  of  employees  and  in  the 
total  and  average  wages,  the  decrease  in  the  proportion 
of  the  product  of  manufactures  assigned  to  labor,  and 
the  increase  in  the  productive  capacity  of  employees,  are 
the  three  principal  effects  that  the  development  of  the 
factory  system  has  had  on  employees  and  wages. 

As  an  indication  of  the  increase  in  the  number  and 
wages,  it  appears  that  in  1850  the  average  number  of 
employees  was 
reported  at 
957.059  and  the 
total  wages  as 
$236,755,464. 
1 11  1890  the 
number  is  reported  as  4,712,622  and  the  wages  as 
$2,283,216,529.  Owing  to  improved  statistical  methods, 
the  totals  for  1890  include  certain  elements  not  reported, 
or  not  fully  reported,  for  previous  years.  Reducing  the 
figures,  as  far  as  possible,  to  a  comparable  basis,  the 
number  appears  as  4,286,523  and  the  total  wages 
$1,911,137,838,  an  increase  of  3,329,464,  or  347.88  per 
cent,  in  number,  and  of  $1,674,382,374,  or  707.22  per 
cent,  in  total  wages,  over  1850.  During  the  same  period 
the  average  annual  earnings  per  employee  increased  from 
$247.38  to  $445.85,  being  an  increase  of  $198.47,  or 
80.22  per  cent. 

In  contrast  with  the  increase  in  the  bulk  and  average 
wages  is  the  decrease  in  the  proportion  of  the  net  value 
of  product  assigned  to  labor.  The  net  value  of  product 
is  the  value  remaining  after  deducting  the  cost  of  ma- 
terials, and  may  be  considered  as  the  value  added  to  the 
cost  of  the  raw  materials  by  the  combined  operation  of 
capital  and  labor.      The  total  for  all  industries  in  the 


Proportion  of 
emploj 

product. 


Total  wage? 
1850-1890. 


Im  1  eased  I'lilk 
and  de  • 
value  of 
product. 


192      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Effect  of  the 
adoption  of 
machinery. 


Cost  of 
materials. 


United  States  shows  that  in  1850  fifty-one  per  cent  of 
the  net  value  was  assigned  to  labor  and  in  1890  forty- 
five  per  cent.  The  decrease  in  the  proportional  amount 
assigned  to  labor  is  offset,  to  a  considerable  extent,  by 
the  increase  in  interest  account,  which  is  also  payable 


TOTAL  WAGES  PAID  TO  ALL  EMPLOYES. 

IN    MILLIONS. 

1850 
1890 

200      400       600       800       1000      1200      I4O0      16011      1800      ?000     ??00 

1 

\           1                      1 

out  of  the  net  product,  as  the  average  amount  of  capital 
required  for  a  product  valued  at  $100  increased  from 
$52.32  in  1850  to  $69.62  in  1890. 

Of  the  numerous  causes  that  combined  to  produce  the 
general  increase  in  the  number  of  employees  and  in 
wages  and  the  decrease  in  the  proportion  of  the  value 
of  the  finished  product  assigned  to  labor,  the  adoption 
of  machinery  and  labor-saving  devices  is  at  once  the 
most  important  and  the  most  easy  of  practical  demon- 
stration. 

The  cost  of  materials  is  generally  the  principal  item  of 
expense  in  manufacturing,  and  as  this  cost  is  included  in 
the  gross  value  of  product,  the  industries  that  appar- 
ently produce  the  greatest  value  do  not  necessarily  en- 
gage the  greatest  number  of  employees.  Excluding  the 
mechanical  trades,  such  as  masonry,  blacksmithing,  and 
carpentering,  we  find  that  the  manufactures  reporting 
the  greatest  number  of  employees  are  those  in  which 
machinery  is  largely  employed,  such  as  the  textiles, 
boots  and  shoes,  clothing,  and  various  metal  and  wood- 
working industries. 

As  illustrative  of  this  fact,  it  appears  that  in  1850  the 


Number  of  Employees  and   Total   Wages.        193 

New  England  States  and  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and 
New  Jersey  reported  seventy-three  per  cent  of  all  the 
employees  and  seventy  per  cent  of  the  gross  value  of 
product.      The  wide  application  of  the  factory  system  wide  appiica- 
that  has  occurred  since  1850  has  not  been  sufficient  to  factory  system, 
counterbalance  this   disproportion,  the   percentages   in 
1890    standing    fifty-four    and    fifty-two,     respectively. 
During  the  same  period  the  increase  in  the  number  of 
employees  in  these  states  was  233  per  cent,  and  in  the 
value  of  product  584  per  cent.     While  the  percentage 
of  increase  in  the  United  States,  exclusive  of  the  states 
named,  has  been  greater,  the  increase  in  employees  be-   number  of  em- 
ing  643  per  cent  and  in  the  value  of  product  1,376  per  vaiueof"" 
cent,  the  disproportion  in  the  increase  in  the  value  of  pr° 
product  and  employees  is  also  greater.     In  other  words, 
the  increase  of  employees  in  old  established  manufac- 
turing centers  has  been  more  in  keeping  with  the  increase 
in  the  value  of  product  than  in  comparatively  newly  de- 
veloped districts. 

It  requires  1 . 1 2  employees  on  an  average  to  produce  persons  to  each 
a  net  product  valued  at  $1,000,  as  obtained  from  the  product.01" 
total  for  the  New  England  States,  New  York,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  New  Jersey,  while  the  totals  for  the  Western 
States  indicate  that  a  net  product  of  the  same  value  re- 
quires, on  an  average,  .9  of  one  employee.  In  the  New 
England  States  fifty-seven  per  cent  of  the  net  product 
was  assigned  to  labor,  as  compared  with  fifty-two  per 
cent  in  the  rest  of  the  country,  the  proportion  going  as 
low  as  fifty-one  per  cent  in  the  South  Central  States,  the 
wages,  in  each  instance,  including  the  salaries  of  officers 
and  clerks.  It  must  not  be  inferred  from  these  percent- 
ages that  the  introduction  of  machinery  in  any  particular 
industry  has  been  invariably  followed  by  the  employ- 
ment of  a  larger  number  of  persons  to  a  product  of  a 


194      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Increase  in 
number  and 
wages  of 
employees  in 
textiles. 


In  boots  and 
shoes. 


Relation  of 
capital  to 
product. 


given  value.  They  do  show  that  in  the  sections  of  the 
country  where  machinery  is  extensively  used  and  where 
the  products,  as  a  whole,  are  of  a  more  highly  finished 
character,  more  persons  are  required  to  produce  a  given 
value  than  in  sections  where  these  features  do  not 
predominate. 

The  increase  in  the  number  and  wages  of  employees 
in  the  manufacture  of  textiles  and  of  boots  and  shoes, 
two  industries  in  which  machinery  has  reached  the  great- 
est perfection,  is  as  follows  :  The  manufacture  of  textiles 
reported  194,082  employees  in  i860,  receiving  $40,353,- 
462  in  wages,  as  compared  with  501,718,  excluding  offi- 
cers, firm  members,  and  clerks,  and  $163,516,593  in 
wages  for  1890.  The  average  annual  earnings  per  em- 
ployee in  i860  were  $207.92,  and  in  1890  $325.91,  the 
increase  during  the  thirty  years  being  56.75  per  cent. 

In  the  manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes  the  number  of 
employees  increased  53,843,  the  total  wages  $49,563,- 
342,  and  the  average  annual  earnings  $242.01,  or  1 17.81 
per  cent,  during  the  forty  years  from  1850  to  1890. 

The  extensive  application  of  machinery  in  the  manu- 
facture of  boots  and  shoes  dates  from  the  decade  of 
1 850-1 860.  During  this  period  the  proportion  of  the 
net  product  assigned  to  labor  decreased  from  seventy- 
two  per  cent  to  sixty-three  per  cent ;  the  average  annual 
earnings  increased  from  $205.43  to  $251.48;  the  net 
product  increased  sixty-three  per  cent,  and  the  capital 
required  for  one  dollar  of  net  product  increased  from 
forty-three  to  forty-eight  cents.  In  the  thirty  years 
from  i860  to  1890  the  proportion  of  net  product  as- 
signed to  labor  decreased  to  fifty-three  per  cent ;  the  an- 
nual earnings  increased  to  $447.44;  the  net  product 
increased  171  percent,  and  the  capital  required  for  one 
dollar  of  net  product  to  eighty-eight  cents. 


Number  of  Employees  and   Total    Wages.       195 

As  illustrative  of  the  increase  in  the  productive  ca- 
pacity of  employees,  we  find  that  in  1830  one  operative  ^1™^^ toeach 
was  required  for  every  25.02  spindles  in  the  cotton  manu-  operative, 
facture,  but  owing  to  perfected  machinery,  improved 
processes,  and  the  development  of  industrial  skill,  the 
number  of  spindles  operated  by  one  employee  had  in- 
creased to  64.82  in  1890. 

Not  only  has  the  expansion  of  our  manufacturing  in- 
terests followed  upon  the  adoption  of  machinery,  but  the 
number  and  productive  capacity  of  the  operatives  have  results  in  ex- 
increased,  while  there  has  been  an  increase  in  the  wages 
and  a  reduction  in  working  time.  The  cost  of  manu- 
facture and  the  proportion  of  the  product  assigned  to 
labor  have  decreased,  while  the  capital  and  interest  ac- 
count have  materially  increased. 

Accepting  these  general  conclusions  to  be  the  results 
of  the  various  changes  that  have  occurred  in  the  status 
of  employees  during  the  development  of  our  factory 
system,  a  brief  consideration  of  the  employees  and 
wages  as  reported  at  the  United  States  Census  of  1890 
will  be  profitable. 

The  figures  substantiate  the  theory  that  wages  are 
highest  in  the  Western  States,  where  the  cost  of  living  Wages  highest 

&  °    in  Western 

is  relatively  higher.  Wyoming  leads,  with  an  average  states, 
annual  wage  for  male  operatives,  including  skilled  and 
unskilled  but  not  pieceworkers,  of  $So6,  and  is  followed 
by  Colorado,  with  an  average  of  $685.  The  industry 
reporting  the  highest  average  wages  for  the  same  class  of 
employees  is  the  manufacture  of  paper  patterns,  the 
average  being  $773.  Comparatively  few  establishments 
and  employees  are  reported  for  the  states  and  industries 
showing  the  very  highest  wages.  These  averages, 
therefore,  cannot  be  accepted  as  a  true  indication  of  the 
general  average  for  the  United  States. 


1 96      Industrial  Evolution  of  tlic   United  States. 


Concent  ration 
of  industries. 


In  cities. 


Officers  and 
firm  members. 


Earnings  of 
officers  and  of 
employees. 


Highest  skill 
now  demanded. 


The  concentration  of  the  principal  industries  in  fewer 
and  larger  establishments  has  resulted  in  a  comparatively 
few  establishments  controlling  a  large  proportion  of  the 
total  employees.  Nine  hundred  and  five  cotton  facto- 
ries, for  instance,  report  221,585  employees,  on  an  aver- 
age, each  day  of  the  year,  while  eleven  establishments 
manufacturing  rubber  boots  and  shoes  report  over  9,000 
employees,  or  842  per  establishment,  being  the  largest 
number  reported  for  the  average  establishment  in  any 
industry  during  the  year  1890.  The  general  concen- 
tration of  manufactures  in  cities  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  the  cities  with  a  population  of  20,000  and  over, 
while  contributing  twenty-four  per  cent  of  the  popu- 
lation, gave  employment  to  sixty-two  per  cent  of  the 
employees  reported  by  establishments  of  productive 
industry. 

The  reports  disclose  that  418,081  male  and  42,928 
female  officers,  firm  members,  and  clerks  were  actively 
engaged  in  manufacturing  or  in  supervision,  to  whom 
$391,988,208  was  credited  as  salaries,  or  an  average  an- 
nual earnings  of  $850.28  as  compared  with  $444.83  for 
all  other  employees.  There  appears,  on  an  average, 
one  clerk,  officer,  or  firm  member  to  every  9.22  em- 
ployees, the  office  force  constituting  about  one  tenth  of 
the  total  number. 

The  constantly  increasing  intricacy  of  manufactures, 
and  the  necessity  for  close  and  accurate  calculations  on 
the  total  cost,  and  the  different  elements  of  cost  that 
enter  into  each  of  the  different  stages  of  process,  as 
well  as  the  never-ceasing  changes  in  fashion,  demanding 
new  and  tasteful  designs,  tend  to  increase  the  im- 
portance of  the  office  force.  The  highest  skill  and 
scientific  knowledge,  combined  with  practical  experi- 
ence, are  demanded.      Probably  in  no  industry  is  this 


Number  of  Employees  and    Total    Wages.        197 


more  emphasized  than  in  the  manufacture  of  chemicals, 
as  at  present  conducted.  Chemical  engineering  forms 
the  important  factor  in  the  adjustment  of  the  costly- 
machinery  and  the  direction  of  the  numerous  opera- 
tions that  produce  the  unlimited  variety  of  products 
from  this  industry,  while  the  laboratory,  with  its  corps 
of  careful  workers,  forms  the  pulse  of  the  entire  estab- 
lishment. With  the  concentration  of  industries  and  the 
increase  in  the  size  of  the  establishments,  the  number 
and  importance  of  the  office  force  will  increase. 

The  tendency  in  all  industries  is  to  regulate  the  pay 
of  pieceworkers  to  conform  to  the  pay  of  operatives  en- 
gaged in  the  same  line  of  work,  and  the  totals  of  all 
classes  of  manufactures  during  1890  show  that  while  the 
annual  earnings  of  male  operatives  of  all  classes  were 
$498,  those  of  pieceworkers  amounted  to  $500.  The 
average  annual  earnings  of  female  operatives  amounted 
to  $276,  and  of  pieceworkers  to  $255.  The  piecework- 
ers constitute  sixteen  per  cent  of  the  total  employees, 
there  being  about  one  to  every  4.6  operatives.  Piece- 
workers are  employed  to  the  greatest  extent  in  the  manu- 
facture of  clothing,  their  numbers,  in  some  branches  of 
the  industry,  exceeding  the  number  of  regular  opera- 
tives. Much  of  the  work  in  this  industry  can  be  readily 
performed  at  the  homes  of  the  workers.  One  manufac- 
turer frequently  engages  a  number  of  independent  con- 
tractors, who  in  turn  employ  numerous  hands  to  work 
by  the  piece.  The  ramifications  of  the  industry  render 
it  practically  impossible  to  obtain  the  exact  number  of 
pieceworkers  actually  employed.  The  average  number 
is  reported  at  145,640,  as  compared  with  159,392 opera- 
tives, but  the  actual  number  is  somewhat  in  excess  of 
this  total. 

The  greatest  number  of  employees  in   the  establish- 


I'ieix-workers 
and  their 

1.11  IlillgS. 


Pieceworkers 
ami  operatives 
compared. 


198       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


ments  engaged  in  the  mechanical  and  manufacturing  in- 
ciassification  of  dustries  are  reported  as  skilled  and  unskilled  operatives. 

skilled  and  1  <-  1  -i  j 

unskilled.  The  average  number  of  men,  women,  and  children  of 

this  class  employed  during  each  day  of  1890  was  3,492,- 
029,  receiving  $1,590,516,997  as  wages,  the  number  be- 
ing seventy-four  per  cent  of  all  employees  and  the  wages 
seventy  per  cent  of  the  total  wages.  The  men  num- 
bered 2,881,795,  receiving  $1,436,482,387  as  wages; 
the  women  numbered  505,712,  receiving  $139,329,719 
as  wages  ;  and  the  children  numbered  104,522,  receiv- 
ing $14,704,891  as  wages. 

The  development  of  the  factory  system  in  almost  every 
line  of  industry  tends  to  a  concentration  of  the  labor  in 
the  factory  building.  While  the  introduction  of  ma- 
chinery and  the  improved  skill  of  the  operatives  have 
greatly  increased  the  quantity  and  reduced  the  cost  of 
the  product,  the  growing  competition  in  all  lines  causes 
a  constant  pressure  for  a  greater  quantity  at  less  cost, 
and  the  employment  of  pieceworkers  at  the  works,  under 
factory  regulations  and  discipline,  is  conducive  to  this 
result.  It  stimulates  to  greater  exertions,  while  guard- 
ing against  overwork  by  regulating  the  hours  of  labor, 
and  gives  the  workman  the  advantage  of  good  sanitary 
surroundings.  The  number  of  pieceworkers  so  engaged 
is  rapidly  increasing,  and  they  are  so  closely  identified 
with  the  operative  receiving  pay  according  to  time  that 
in  a  general  report  for  the  entire  establishment  there  is 
apt  to  be  no  distinction  made  between  the  two  classes. 
Therefore,  the  number  of  operatives  cannot  be  consid- 
ered as  consisting  entirely  of  employees  receiving  pay  ac- 
cording to  time.  The  class,  however,  represents  the  mass 
of  the  workingmen  in  these  industries,  and  their  wages 
are  the  true  criterion  of  the  actual  earnings.  The  aver- 
age annual  earnings  for  men  of  this  class  were  $498,  for 


Increase  in 
number  of 
pieceworkers. 


Number  of  Employees  and   Total    Wages.       199 

women  $276,  and  for  children  $141.  The  earnings  for 
this  class  in  1890,  as  obtained  from  the  totals  for  the  165  Earnings  of 
cities  that  had  a  population  of  20,000  and  over,  were  for  and  children! 
men  $567.54,  for  women  $291.80,  and  for  children 
$159.23.  In  the  districts  outside  of  the  cities  the  aver- 
ages were  for  men  $401.34,  for  women  $239.88,  and  for 
children  $120.87.  The  excess  of  the  general  average 
for  the  cities  over  that  for  the  United  States  or  for  the 
districts  outside  of  the  cities  is  due  to  numerous  causes, 
the  most  important  of  which  is  the  excess  in  living  ex- 
penses. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

WOMEN  AND  CHILDREN  IN  INDUSTRY. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  women  and  children  consti- 
tuted an  economic  factor  during  the  colonial  days.     Their 

in°eariy  period,  labor  was  not  in  demand,  except  in  a  domestic  sense,  to 
any  great  extent.  To  be  sure,  the  spinning  and  weav- 
ing that  were  carried  on  in  the  homes  were  done  by 
women,  but  it  would  be  incorrect  to  say  that  they  en- 
tered into  the  mechanical  industries  of  the  times,  for 
they  were  not  hired  to  do  these  things  as  a  rule,  but  did 
them  as  a  part  of  their  household  duties,  although  near 
the  close  of  the  colonial  period  women  and  children  had 
been  introduced  into  some  works,  particularly  in  the  set- 
ting of  wire  teeth  in  the  wrool  and  cotton-cards  that  were 
used  for  the  hand-combing  of  the  fiber.  The  manufac- 
ture of  cards  had  become  quite  extensive  by  1784,  one 
factory  alone,  it  is  alleged,  employing  about  one  thou- 
sand and  two  hundred  hands,  chiefly  women  and  chil- 
dren. In  the  early  days  of  this  particular  industry  the 
women  worked  at  setting  the  teeth  very  much  as  they 
did  at  knitting,  taking  the  board  and  teeth  home  with 
them,  and   even   carrying  them  out  when  they  went  to 

Mr.  Hamilton's  sPend  an  afternoon  with  a  neighbor.  Mr.  Hamilton,  in 
his  report  on  manufactures  made  to  Congress  in  1791, 
which  has  been  referred  to,  speaks  of  the  ' '  vast  scene  of 
household  manufacturing  which  contributes  more  largely 
to  the  supply  of  the  community  than  could  be  imagined 
without  having  it  made  an  object  of  particular  inquiry. 


report. 


Women  and  Children  in  Industry.  201 

Great  quantities  of  coarse  cloths,  coatings,  serges,  and 
flannels,  linsey-woolseys,  hosiery  of  wool,  cotton,  and 
thread,  coarse  fustians,  jeans  and  muslins,  checked  and 
striped  cotton  and  linen  goods,  bedticks,  coverlets,  and  Early  manufac- 
counterpanes,  tow  linens,  coarse  shirtings,  sheetings, 
toweling  and  table  linen,  and  various  mixtures  of  wool 
and  cotton,  and  of  cotton  and  flax,  are  made  in  the 
household  way,  and,  in  many  instances,  to  an  extent  not 
only  sufficient  for  a  supply  of  the  families  in  which  they 
are  made,  but  for  sale,  and  even  in  some  cases  for  ex- 
portation. It  is  computed  in  a  number  of  districts  that 
two  thirds,  three  fourths,  and  even  four  fifths  of  all  the 
clothing  of  the  inhabitants  are  made  by  themselves." 
So  it  appears  from  these  brief  historical  references  that 
by  1790  the  never-ceasing  industry  of  the  women  was 
the  principal  factor  in  the  development  of  a  manufacture 
that  was  probably  contributing  more  directly  to  the  per- 
sonal comfort  and  prosperity  of  the  people  than  any 
other  then  in  existence.  Important  as  the  industry  was, 
the  large  majority  of  the  women  engaged  in  it  considered 

it  an  adjunct  to  their  household  duties,  as  has  been  stated,    Adjum  is  to 

J  _  household 

and  not  as  a  gainful  occupation — that  is,  one  for  which  duties. 

they  were  to  receive  particular  remuneration — for  the 
larger  portion  of  the  product  of  their  work  was  con- 
sumed by  the  family  in  which  it  was  produced. 

With  the  establishment  of  the  factory  system  the  cm- 
Demand  came 
ployment  of  women  and  children  became  more  common  ;   withfactory. 

yet  there  was  a  prejudice  against  women  taking  places 
at  the  looms  and  the  spinning  machines  of  the  textile 
factories.  After  the  invention  of  spinning  and  weaving 
machinery  in  England,  and  the  textile  factory  there  be- 
came a  fixed  element  in  industry,  women  were  brought 
into  it  from  the  rural  districts,  and  the  labor  of  children 
taken  from   the   almshouses  was   absorbed.     By  these 


2o2       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  Stales. 


Prejudice 
against  the 
employment 

ol  women. 


Women  and 
children  under 
the  factory 
system. 


Employments  of 
women  in  1840. 


Now  found 
everywhere. 


methods  the  manufacturers  were  enabled  to  secure  their 
employees  at  very  low  compensation.  On  this  account, 
when  the  factory  was  established  in  America,  and  the 
services  of  women  and  children  were  sought,  there  was 
a  great  prejudice  against  it,  and  for  the  first  ten  or 
twenty  years  after  the  permanent  establishment  of  the 
factory  system  proprietors  were  obliged  to  offer  extra  in- 
ducements for  women  to  enter  their  service. 

By  181 5  the  textile  industry  had  practically  passed 
into  the  factory  system,  and  by  1830  the  old  household 
industry  was  rapidly  disappearing.  Prior  to  1815 
women  and  children,  to  some  extent,  were  engaged  in 
occupations  for  which  they  received  money  or  its  equiva- 
lent as  compensation  for  their  services.  Their  more  ex- 
tended employment  and  the  establishment  of  their 
position  as  independent  wage-workers  date  practically 
from  the  period  between  18 15  and  1830.  They  followed 
the  textile  industries  into  the  factories,  and  the  consoli- 
dation of  industries  in  large  establishments  instead  of 
small,  individual  shops  broadened  the  field  and  gave 
women  opportunities  of  entering  independently  into  the 
gainful  pursuits,  which  they  gladly  embraced  ;  yet  they 
were  employed  in  but  few  occupations  even  then.  Har- 
riet Martineau,  an  English  lady,  who  visited  America 
in  1840,  related  that  she  found  but  seven  employments 
open  to  women — teaching,  needle-work,  keeping  board- 
ers, working  in  cotton-mills,  type-setting,  working  in 
book-binderies,  and  household  service.  A  study  of  the 
industrial  conditions  of  the  present  time  convinces  one 
that  now  there  are  but  few  lines  of  remunerative  employ- 
ment not  occupied  to  some  extent  by  women.  They 
are  found  in  nearly  all  departments  of  governmental 
work,  and  there  is  hardly  a  single  field  where  women 
are  not  employed.     This  general  entrance  into  the  in- 


Womoi  and  Children  in  Industry.  203 

dustrial  field  was  assured  when  the  factory  system  of 
labor  displaced  the  hand-labor  system,  for  the  factory 
system  was  concretely  the  result  of  the  universal  tend- 
ency to  association  inherent  in  our  nature,  and  under 
the  development  of  which  every  advance  in  human  im- 
provement and  human  happiness  has  been  made. 

The  age  of  invention  must    be  held  accountable  for 
this  entrance  of  woman  into  spheres  entirely  stranee  and  invention 

.  riii  largely  account- 

Unknown  to  her  prior  to  that  age,  for  under  the  hand-   able  for  empiov- 

1  11  1       •  r-  merit  of  women. 

labor  system  she  was  used  to  home  duties,  to  field 
drudgery,  and  to  the  work  necessary  for  the  assistance 
of  her  husband  or  father  in  the  hand  labor  which  he 
performed,  and  under  that  system  she  lived  a  narrow, 
contracted,  unwholesome  life  in  the  lower  walks  of  in- 
dustry, and  she  was  not  known  or  recognized  in  the 
higher.  As  an  economic  factor,  either  in  art  or  litera- 
ture or  industry,  she  was  hardly  recognizable  ;  but  with   Woman  an 

,,  1  i-   1  r     1  1  •  economic  force. 

the  establishment  of  the  new  system,  the  attraction  to 
women  to  earn  more  than  they  could  earn  as  domestic 
servants  or  in  some  fields  of  agricultural  labor,   or  to 
earn  spmething  where  before  they  had  earned  nothing, 
constituted  them  an  economic  force,  the  result  of  which 
has  been  that  women  have  assumed  the  position  and  are 
obliged  therefore  to  submit  to  all  the  conditions  of  a 
new  economic  factor.      It  can  hardly  be  said,  however, 
that   in  the  lower  forms  of  labor  in  industrial  pursuits 
women  have  superseded  men.     On   the  contrary,  they  women  have 
have  supplemented  the  work  of  men,  and  the  necessities  wo&eoTmen. 
of  the  people  which  could  be  supplied  under  the  new 
system  of  labor  made  it  possible  for  them  to  supplement 
the  services  of  men.     Women  were  paid  a  lower  rate  of  women  paid 
wage  than   men,   although  subsequent   to   their  intro-   wage  than  men. 
duction  as  economic  factors  nun  were  obliged  some- 
times to  take  practically  the  same  wage  when  performing 


204       Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Higher  grades 
open. 


Meager  statis- 
tics back  of  1870. 


Number  in 
manufactories 
in  1850. 


the  same  duty  as  women,  but  the  wages  that  were  paid 
were  not  so  much  lower  as  it  is  often  supposed  they 
were,    when    the   same  lines   of  duty   are   considered. 

There  has  been  a  constant  change  from  lower  to 
higher  forms  of  employment.  From  factory  operatives 
women  have  entered  higher  grades,  as  teachers,  book- 
keepers, telegraph  operators,  etc.,  and  as  their  expert- 
ness  has  been  recognized  the  demand  for  skilled  and 
well-equipped  employees  of  course  increased  ;  but  with 
this  demand  there  has  been  a  corresponding  and  a  com- 
pensating absorption  of  the  labor  of  men  in  the  great 
developing  enterprises  of  America.* 

It  is  unfortunate,  in  the  treatment  of  this  particular 
subject,  that  statistics  as  to  the  actual  number  of  women 
and  children  employed  in  all  remunerative  occupations 
in  the  country  are  not  obtainable  back  of  1870.  Facts 
as  to  their  wages  are  quite  fully  given  back  to  183 1.  It 
is  interesting  to  note  the  change  of  conditions  as  indi- 
cated by  numbers,  and  the  information  as  to  the  number 
generally  employed  can  be  ascertained  for  all  the  decen- 
nial periods  since  and  including  1850,  at  which  time  there 
were,  according  to  the  census  of  that  year,  225,298 
female  and  741,671  male  employees  in  the  manufacturing 
industries  of  the  country.  This  gives  1  female  to  every 
3.29  males.  In  many  industries  that  developed  rapidly, 
however,  heavy  manual  labor  and  physical  endurance, 
rather  than  skill,  were  required  of  the  employees.  In 
such  industries  women  could  not  engage  ;  therefore  the 
proportionate  number  of  women  in  the  total  for  all  in- 
dustries existing  in  1850  cannot  be  considered  excessively 
small.  In  those  industries  in  which  women  could  and  did 
engage  from  the  inception  of  the  factory  system  they  had 


*  Cf.  "  Why  Women  are  Paid  Less  than  Men,"  bv  the  author  :     The  Forum, 
July,  1 


Women  and  Children  in  Industry. 


205 


held  their  own,  in  numbers  at  least.  In  the  wool  manu- 
facture, for  instance,  there  was  1  female  to  every  1.4 
males,  and  in  the  cotton  and  hosiery  manufacture  there 
was  1  male  to  every  1.8,  or  about  every  2,  females.  In 
industries  such  as  tailoring,  the  manufacture  of  hats  and 
caps,  gloves,  india  rubber  goods,  millinery,  umbrellas, 
and  others  where  a  rapidity  of  movement  and  a  delicacy 
of  touch  which  could  not  be  supplied  by  mechanical  de- 
vices were  required,  the  number  of  females  exceeded  the 
males. 

Women  formed  23.30  per  cent  of  all  employees  en- 
gaged in  manufacturing  establishments  in  1850.  The 
proportionate  number,  however,  has  been  constantly  de- 
creasing, women  furnishing  but  17.21  per  cent  of  the 
total  number  of  employees  in  manufacturing  industries 
in  1890.  The  actual  number  has  increased  in  a  ratio 
somewhat  in  excess  of  the  decrease  in  the  relative  num- 
ber. During  the  forty  years  from  1850  to  1S90  the 
actual  number  of  women  employed  in  manufacturing  in- 
dustries increased  531,765,  or  235  per  cent.  The  num- 
ber of  children  employed  in  manufactures  was  first  as- 
certained in  1870,  when  114,628,  including  both  sexes, 
were  reported, 
this  number  be- 
ing 5.58  per  cent 
of  all  employees. 
As  in  the  case  of 
women,  the  pro- 
portionate num- 
ber of  children 
has  steadily  de- 
creased, till  in 
1890  they  formed  but  2.57  per  cent  of  the  total  ;  the 
decrease  in  the  number  of  children  has  been  not  only 


NUMBER  OF  WOMEN  EMPLOYES. 

ALL     INDUSTRIES 

IN     THOUSAMDS. 

1850 
I860 
1870 
I860 
1890 

100     700      300       «00      500       BOO       700       MO 

1 

__^ 

Ratio  of  males 
to  females. 


Pen  entage  of 
women  in 
manufacturing 
establishments, 

1850. 


Increase  iti 
number  of 
women. 


206      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


in  1890. 


Large  percent- 
age of  women 
iii  New  England 
and  Middle 
States. 


relative,  but  actual,  which  decrease  is  clue  primarily  to 
legislation  in  the  several  states,  prohibiting  the  employ- 
ment of  children  under  a  certain  age  in  any  manufactur- 
ing, mechanical,  or  mercantile  establishment.  The  laws 
relating  to  this  particular  subject  have  been  outlined  in 
the  chapters  on  labor  legislation. 

During  the  decade  of  years  from  1870  to  1880  there 
occurred  the  greatest  increase  in  the  number  of  women 
and  children  employed,  the  actual  increase  being  58.21 
per  cent  for  women  and  54.39  per  cent  for  children, 
while  during  the  following  decade  of  years  the  children 
decreased  34.09  per  cent.  The  women,  however,  in- 
creased 47.91  per  cent,  as  we  have  seen.  These  per- 
centages indicate  the  extent  of  the  increase  in  the  num- 
ber of  women  and  the  decrease  in  the  number  of  children 
employed  in  mechanical  and  manufacturing  establish- 
ments in  the  United  States,  considering  the  total  for  all 
branches  of  industry,  and  including  those  in  which 
women  are  not  likely  to  engage,  at  least  to  any  extent. 

In  actual  numbers  there  were  3,745,123  men,  846,614 
women,  and  120,885  children,  on  an  average,  employed 
in  the  mechanical  and  manufacturing  industries  during 
1890,  there  being  1  woman  to  every  4.4  men  and  1  child 
to  every  7  women.  The  number  of  women  and  chil- 
dren employed  in  manufactures  in  any  locality  is  con- 
trolled by  the  character  of  the  predominating  industries 
and  the  proportion  their  number  is  of  the  total  popula- 
tion. The  women  form  a  larger  percentage  of  the  total 
population  of  the  New  England  and  Middle  States  than 
they  do  of  other  sections,  and  the  predominating  indus- 
tries are  of  the  character  in  which  they  can  engage.  We 
therefore  find  that  the  proportionate  number  of  women 
employed  is  greater  there  than  in  any  other  section.  On 
the   other  hand,    the  laws  against  the  employment  of 


Women  and  Children  in  Industry 


207 


children  are  generally  more  stringent  in   New   England 

than  elsewhere,  and  the  number  of  children  employed  is    Lawsrejjula- 

1       J  tmjf  their  em- 

proportionately  less  than  in  other  states.     The  figures  payment, 
support  this  theory  in  the  following  manner  : 

The  women  employed  in  the  New  England  and  Middle 
States  in  1890  were  69  per  cent  of  the  total  for  the  United 
States,  while  the  children  were  but  52  per  cent  of  all 
children;  there  were  3.3  men  to  each  woman  and  9.2 
women  to  each  child  employed.  In  theUnited  States  ex- 
clusive of  the  New  England  and  Middle  States  there  were 
7.0  men  to  each  woman  and  4.6  women  to  each  child. 
Almost  three  fourths  of  the  women  and  but  little  over 
one  half  of  the  children  employed  in  the  mechanical 
and  manufacturing 
industries  of  the 
United  States  are 
engaged  in  the  fac- 
tories of  the  New 
England  and  Mid- 
dle States.  There 
are  more  than  twice 
as  many  men  to  each  woman  and  less  than  half  as  many 
women  to  each  child  employed  in  the  remaining  states 
as  there  are  in  the  New  England  and  Middle  States.  If 
we  look  at  the  actual  increase  during  the  twenty  years 
from    1870  to  1890,  we  find  that  the  number  of  women 

employed  in  the  New  England   and   Middle  States  in-    in  number  of 

,  ,  children  (-in- 

creased  314,251    and   the  children    decreased    14,585,    ployed. 

while  in  the  remaining  states  the  women  increased  20S,- 
593  and  the  children  increased  20,842. 

Eor  similar  reasons  the  employment  of  women  in  the 
manufactures  of  cities  is  more  general,  and  the  children    M« ^j-  general 
proportionately  less,  than  in  the  rural  districts.      In  tin- 
principal  cities  the  females  constituted  20.49  per  cent  of 


NUMBER  OF  CHILDREN  EMPLOYES 
ALL  INDUSTRIES. 

IN     TMOUSHNDS. 

1870 
18SO 
1890 

Z5        SO        7b        100       US       150       175 

1 

^^ 

■ 

, 

1                  !         ' 

208       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  Stairs. 


Proportion  of 
women  and 
children  in 
cities. 


Increase  of 
women  in  shoe 
and  textile 
industries. 


Proportion  in 
1890. 


the  total  employees  in  1890  and  in  the  districts  outside 
the  cities  13.89  percent,  the  proportionate  number  in 
the  cities  being  6.60  per  cent  greater.  The  children 
form  2.10  per  cent  of  the  total  employees  in  the  cities 
and  3.31  per  cent  in  the  country. 

The  textiles  and  the  manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes 
are  among  the  oldest  factory  industries  in  the  United 
States,  and  the  increase  in  the  number  of  women  em- 
ployed in  them  can  be  considered  as  indicating  the  rate 
of  increase  in  all  industries  in  which  women  are  likely 
to  engage  to  any  extent.  Taking  the  total  for  wool, 
hosiery,  and  cotton  factories,  we  find  that  in  1850  the 
women  formed  57  per  cent  of  the  total  employees,  there 
being  1  man  to  every  1.3  women.  In  1890  the  women 
formed  48  per  cent  of  the  total,  there  being  1  man  to 
every  1.1  women.  During  the  forty  years  the  men  in- 
creased 129,366,  or  214  per  cent,  and  the  women  133,- 
177,  or  168  percent.  In  1890  the  women  formed  41 
per  cent  of  the  total  employees  in  wool  manufacture,  67 
per  cent  in  hosiery,  and  48  per  cent  in  cotton.  There 
were  32,949  women  and  72,305  men  reported  as  em- 
ployed by  establishments  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
boots  and  shoes  during  1850,  which  probably  included 
the  employees  of  a  large  number  of  small  custom  shops. 
In  1890  the  factory  industry  alone  reported  96,233  men, 
43,213  women,  and  2,839  children,  the  women  forming 
30  per  cent  of  the  total,  as  compared  with  3  r  per  cent 
in  1S50,  there  being  about  two  men  to  every  woman  at 
both  periods,  but  during  the  forty  years  the  men  in- 
creased 33  and  the  women  31  per  cent. 

The  initiatory  employment  of  women  in  these  two  in- 
dustries was  in  many  respects  different ;  women  were  en- 
gaged extensively  in  the  textile  industries  when  the  manu- 
facture entered  the  factory  system,  and  they  necessarily 


Women  and  Children  in  Industry.  209 

passed  into  the  employment  of  the  factories.  Women 
were  not  so  extensively  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 

boots  and  shoes,  and  when  the  manufacture  became  a 
factory  industry  it  opened  to  them  almost  an  entirely 
new  field.  The  statistics  show  that  while  the  percentage 
of  increase  in  the  number  of  women  employed  in  tin- 
textiles  is  much  larger  than  in  the  manufacture  of  boots 
and  shoes,  due  to  the  larger  number  employed,  the  pro- 
portionate number  has  decreased  much  more  rapidly 
than  in  the  boot  and  shoe  industry.  In  other  words,  the 
extent  to  which  women  can  displace  the  labor  of  men  in 
the  textiles  having  been  more  nearly  attained  at  some 
period  between  1850  and  1890  than  in  the  boot  and  shoe 
industry,  the  proportionate  number  began  to  diminish. 

While  the  number  of  women  employed  in  industries  in  Number  of 
which  they  were  engaged  at  the  inception  of  the  factory  pioyed" 
system  has  been  increasing,  it  is  interesting  to  notice,  as 
illustrative  of  their  engaging  in  nvw  pursuits,  that  during 
the  decade  of  years  from  1880  to  1890  not  only  the 
largest  percentages  of  increase  are  shown  for  the  indus- 
tries and  states  reporting  a  relatively  small  number  of 
women  in  1880,  but  also  that  the  relative  number  of 
women  employed  in  such  sections  and  industries  has 
also  increased. 

All  the  industries  in  the  United  States,  and  their  vari-    classification  of 
ety  is  practically  unlimited,   were  assigned    to  one   of  '^i"^11^1" 
three  hundred  and    sixty-nine   general   groups    at    the 
census  of  1S90.     An  examination  of  the  totals  of  these 
groups  discloses  the  fact  that  in  only  nine  of  them  are-  no 
women  or  children  employed.     Their  employment,  there 
fore,  either  as  clerks,  operatives,  or  apprentices,  may  be 
considered  as  universal.     The  apparent  number  ol  voca 
tions  in  which  women  cannot  engage  is  constantly  di- 
minishing, and  is  now  relatively  very  small. 


ien  em- 
in- 
creases. 


2io      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Wages  of 
women  and 
children. 


Average 
earnings  of 
women  and 
children  in 
cotton  manufac- 
turing states. 


The  subject  of  the  actual  and  relative  wages  of  women 
increases  in  importance  with  the  increase  in  the  number 

employed  in  the  mechanical  and  manufacturing  indus- 
tries, and  with  the  extent  to  which  they  displace  the 
labor  of  men.  The  rapid  increase  in  the  number  of 
women  employed  in  certain  lines  of  industry,  the  de- 
crease in  the  number  of  children,  and  the  normal  increase 
in  the  number  of  men  employed  in  the  same  industry, 
indicate  that  the  women  are,  to  some  extent,  supplying 
the  places  of  the  children  and  engaging  in  the  cheaper 
classes  of  labor.  Notwithstanding  this  fact,  the  greatest 
percentage  of  gain  in  average  wages  in  the  cotton  indus- 
try is  in  favor  of  the  female  employees.  The  average 
weekly  earnings  for  women  in  the  cotton  factories  of 
Xew  England  in  1831  ranged  from  $2.20  to  $2.60,  and 
for  men  from  $4.50  to  $7.00,  while  the  average  for  chil- 
dren was  from  $1.50  to  $2.00.  In  1880  the  average  for 
women  ranged  as  high  as  $6.37,  for  men  $9.05,  and  for 
children  $3.30.  Between  1831  and  1880  men's  wages 
had  increased  38  per  cent,  women's  wages  149  per  cent, 
and  children's  115  per  cent.  These  averages,  being  for 
the  five  leading  cotton  manufacturing  states,  are  a  true 
indication  of  the  general  relative  increase  for  the  indus- 
try in  the  entire  country.  In  1890  the  average  in  the 
same  industry  for  the  entire  United  States  for  women  was 
$5.53,  ranging  from  $3.21  to  $6.42,  and  for  men  $7.75, 
ranging  from  $5.1710  $10.44,  the  average  for  children 
being  $2.65.  The  highest  averages  for  all  classes  were 
reported  for  the  New  England  and  Middle  States  and 
the  lowest  for  the  Southern  States. 

The  average  annual  earnings  for  women  clerks  during 
1890,  as  obtained  from  the  total  for  all  industries,  was 
$462,  and  for  men  $890.  The  women  operatives  re- 
ceived $276,  as  compared  with  $498  for  men,  the  aver- 


Women  and  Children  in  Industry.  21  r 

age  for  children  in  the  same  class  being  $141.      The  dis- 
proportion between    the  wages   of  the  sexes   is   further   Disproportion 

r      l  °  in  wages  of  the 

emphasized  by  the  fact  that  the  men  formed  82.53  per  sexes- 
cent  of  the  total  operatives  and  received  90.32  per  cent 
of  the  total  wages  of  operatives,  while  the  women  formed 
14.48  per  cent  of  the  number  and  received  but  8.76  per 
cent  of  the  wages.  The  proportion  of  wages  in  the  case 
of  men  exceeds  the  number  by  7.79  per  cent,  and  in  the 
case  of  women  falls  short  of  the  number  by  5.72  per 
cent.  A  careful  examination  of  the  actual  earnings  of 
women  discloses  the  fact  that  in  many  industries  their 
average  earnings  equal  or  exceed  the  earnings  of  the 
men.     This  is  especially  true  of  the  pieceworkers. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  as  men  have  stepped  up  Men  take 
into  higher  occupations,  those  which  have  come  up  as  pioyments" 
new  callings  in  life,  they  have  received  comparatively 
higher  compensation  than  women  in  the  old  occupations. 
The  latter  have  occupied  the  positions  of  book-keepers, 
telegraphers,  and  many  of  what  might  be  called  semi- 
professional  callings ;  and  as  women  have  occupied 
them,  men  have  entered  higher  callings — engineering, 
electrical  and  mechanical,  and  other  spheres  of  life 
that  were  not  known  when  women  first  stepped  into 
the  industrial  field.  As  women  have  progressed  from 
entire  want  of  employment  to  employment  which 
pays  a  few  dollars  per  week,  men,  too,  have  pro- 
gressed in  their  employments  and  occupied  entirely 
new  fields  not  known  before.  So  the  facts  certainly 
indicate  that  women,  instead  of  crowding  upon  the  ^'"Vill- !' 
men  to  as  great  an  extent  as  is  generally  supposed,  are  Sfris?*  :""1 
rapidly  taking  the  places  of  boys  and  girls  and  doing  the 
work  which  they  formerly  did  in  our  factories.  The  con- 
stantly increasing  proportion  of  men  indicates  this,  but 
supplemented  by  the  constantly  decreasing  number  <>! 


2i2       Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Legislation  as 

to  children. 


Number  of 

married 

women. 


Reasons  for 
lower  pay. 


children,  the  fact  becomes  apparent.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  the  legislation  of  the  different  states  will  progress  to 
such  an  extent  as  to  keep  children  under  fourteen  or 
fifteen  years  of  age  entirely  out  of  manufacturing  estab- 
lishments. Many  of  the  states  do  this,  practically  pro- 
hibiting children  under  ten  years  of  age  from  working  in 
mechanical  and  manufacturing  pursuits,  and  it  is  gratify- 
ing to  know  that  the  proportion  of  children  has  not  only 
fallen  during  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years  but  is  constantly 
and  rapidly  falling. 

The  employment  of  women  in  mechanical  pursuits 
opens  many  questions  for  ethical  study,  one  of  the  chief 
being  the  employment  of  married  women.  There  are  no 
very  general  or  very  trustworthy  statistics  on  this  sub- 
ject, but  so  far  as  investigation  shows  it  may  be  esti- 
mated with  a  fair  degree  of  accuracy  that  about  ten  per 
cent  of  the  women  employed  in  the  manufacturing  indus- 
tries of  the  country  are  married. 

Another  interesting  subject  which  their  employment 
suggests  is  the  reasons  why  women  are  paid  less  than 
men,  when  that  is  the  case,  and,  except  as  already  pointed 
out,  it  is  usually  so.  The  chief  reasons  why  she  receives 
a  lower  compensation  are  largely  economic.  She  has 
stepped  out  of  industrial  subjection  and  come  into  the 
industrial  system  as  an  entirely  new  economic  factor. 
If  there  were  no  other  reasons,  this  alone  would  be  suf- 
ficient to  keep  her  wages  low  and  prevent  their  very 
rapid  increase  ;  but  there  are  other  reasons  which,  with 
that  just  stated,  keep  her  at  work  at  low  compensation. 
She  occupies  a  lower  standard,  caused  to  some  extent  by 
a  lower  standard  of  life,  both  in  physical  features  and 
in  mental  demands.  She  is  also  the  victim  of  the  in- 
fluence of  the  assistance  which  she  receives  in  a  large 
proportion  of  cases  from  her  family  and  friends.     This 


Women  and  Children  in  Industry.  213 


works  positively  to  lower  her  economic  standard,  keeps 
her  industrial  productivity  at  a  low  grade,  and  actually 
compels  her  to  stand  on  a  lower  plane  than  do  men. 
The  quantity  and  the  quality  of  the  work  which  she  per-    Dis<  ussion  as 

r  •    a  1    1  1  •  to  low  pay. 

iorms  are  influenced  by  this  reason.  Then,  again,  she 
rarely  enters  industrial  pursuits  with  a  sufficient  equip- 
ment for  life-work.  This  is  not  the  result  of  any 
incapacity  of  mind  or  lack  of  skill,  but  is  due  largely 
to  the  hope  that  the  permanence  of  work  will  be  in- 
terrupted by  matrimony.  She  suffers  also  from  a  lack 
of  technical  training,  and  does  not  feel  warranted  in 
spending  years  in  equipping  herself  for  the  best  service. 
While  competition  has  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  bring- 
ing about  the  present  industrial  condition  of  woman  as  a 
recognized  fact,  it  has  also  had  much  to  do  in  keeping 
her  compensation  at  a  low  point,  for  as  she  has  come 
into  industry  as  a  new  economic  factor,  the  pressure  to 
secure  positions  has  created  an  artificial  supply  altogether 
out  of  proportion  to  the  demand  ;  so  every  position  she 
might  occupy  is  sought  by  many,  the  result  being  that 
her  remuneration  is  within  the  power  of  the  employer.* 
It  is  gratifying  to  learn,  from  the  facts  that  can  be  ex- 
amined,   that   woman's   condition    is   constantly    being  Woman's  con- 

dition  improv- 

bettered.  Certainly  women  workers,  as  a  class,  are  be-  tag. 
ginning  to  understand  the  power  and  the  force  which 
come  from  organization.  Working  girls'  clubs  are  being 
formed  everywhere,  and  through  these  clubs  there  will 
come  a  removal  of  some  of  the  injustice  which  has 
been  done  women  in  mechanical  and  manufacturing 
pursuits.  Their  social  and  economic  powers  will  be 
extended  and  recognized  through  the  power  of  asso 
ciation.       The    work     of    their    organizations     is     very 


*  For  a  fuller  discussion  of  this  feature  of  the  employment  of  women,  see 
the  article  in  The  Fot  urn  for  July,  [892,  already  referred  to. 


214       Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Women  not 
making  war 

upon  capital. 


Their  employ- 
ment the 
subject  of  legal 
restriction. 


largely  ethical.  Women  are  not  making  war  upon 
capital  or  forcing  their  demands  for  higher  pay  as  the 
broad  result  of  organization,  but  through  an  association 
of  interests  and  the  bringing  of  their  condition  to  public 
attention,  they  are  securing  the  gradual  recognition  of 
their  value  as  an  economic  factor.  The  influence  of 
their  organization  will  be  felt  in  many  directions.  Their 
employment  has  become  more  and  more  the  subject  of 
legal  restriction.  They  have  heretofore  been  classed 
with  children,  and  legislatures  have  felt  it  incumbent 
upon  them  to  regulate  their  employment  so  far  as  hours 
and  conditions  were  concerned.  Men  have  been  bene- 
fited by  legislative  interference  in  the  employment  of 
women,  for  although  it  has  never  yet  been  deemed  wise 
to  interfere  with  the  employment  of  men,  yet  they  have 
found  their  work  regulated  to  a  certain  degree  through 
the  regulation  of  the  work  of  women  and  children.  It 
is  a  significant  fact  that  without  law  the  hours  of  labor  of 
men  were  long  ago  lessened,  while  the  hours  of  labor  of 
women  and  children  were  reduced  only  by  means  of 
positive  legislative  enactments.  Now,  with  the  rational 
presentation  of  their  conditions  by  themselves,  legis- 
lative restrictions  will  take  on  more  and  more  of  the 
rational  elements.  As  the  facts  relative  to  the  employ- 
ment of  women  become  more  and  better  known  the  pub- 
lic can  more  fully  comprehend  the  whole  ethical,  social, 
and  political  effect  of  their  employment  in  manufactur- 
ing establishments. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

LABOR  AND  RATES  OF  WAGES,  1790-1890.* 

A  statement  of  the  actual  or  average  wages  for  any- 
period  or  locality,  especially  when  used  for  purposes  of  wages  must  be 

•*'■**  1        tr  accompany   !  1  v 

comparison,  is  not  complete  unless  accompanied  by  in-  °ther  informa- 
formation  as  to  the  hours  of  labor,  regulations  as  to 
extra  earnings,  division  of  earnings  among  underhands, 
and  other  methods  peculiar  to  the  period  or  locality. 
Information  as  to  cost  of  living  and  prices  of  commodi- 
ties should  also  be  considered,  since  it  is  not  the  amount 
of  money  wages  that  most  nearly  concerns  the  workman, 
but  the  amount  of  subsistence  obtainable  at  a  given 
period  for  a  given  expenditure.  This  chapter,  how- 
ever, is  confined  chiefly  to  a  presentation  of  wages, 
prices  being  incidentally  treated.  The  rates  selected  are 
either  actual  wages  or  the  average  for  a  number  of  es- 
tablishments in  different  localities,  and  it  is  believed  they 
fairly  represent  the  wages  for  the  different  classes  oi 
labor.  While  the  rate  of  wages  for  the  same  class  of 
employees  in  different  establishments  within  a  given 
district  may  vary,  the  tendency  is  to  equality. 

In  giving  wages  and  prices  for  the  past  one  hundred  statements 
years,    especially  for  the  first  half  of  the  century,  re-  Eastern  and 
course   has  been  chiefly  to  Eastern  and    Middle  State  M",,n 
conditions.     This  has  been  necessitated  by  the  lack  of 
data  for  other  portions  of  the  country,  but  it  is  believed 
that  the  facts  given  arc  fairly  representative  relatively  of 

*  The  graphic  cards  in  this  chapter  illustrate  the  1  ourse  of  wages  in  various 
industries  from  1840  to  1890. 


216      Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 

variations  in  all  manufacturing  districts  of  the  country- 
taken  as  a  whole,  notwithstanding  the  great  variations 
occurring  between  one  part  of  the  country  and  another. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  constitutional  period,  as  stated 
in  the  chapter  on  wages  in  colonial  days,  not  much 
change  had  been  experienced  in  the  rates  of  wages  paid 
in  different  trades,  but  between  1790  and  1830,  when  the 
factory  system  was  in  fair  and  general  operation  and 
labor  of  every  character  commanded  higher  wages,  it 
Wages  in  1790,    being  in  greater  demand,  there  was  a  fair  advance,  car- 

1810,  1830,  1840,  .  .  -111,-  j 

i860.  penters  in  1790  being  paid  less  than  60  cents  a  day  ;  in 

1800  something  over  70  cents;  in  1810,  $1.09  on  the 
average  ;  in  1820,  $1.13  ;  in  1830,  about  $1.13,  reach- 
ing, however,  in  the  northern  parts  of  our  country  an 
average  of  $1.40  a  day  during  the  period  from  1830  to 
1840.  After  this  there  was  not  much  change  for  carpen- 
ters until  i860.  Taking  laborers,  on  the  other  hand,  as 
fairly  representative  of  general  conditions,  it  is  found  that 
they  were  paid,  in  1790,  about  43  cents  a  day,  on  the 
average  ;  in  1800,  62^  cents  a  day  ;  from  1800  to  18 10, 
about  82  cents  a  day  ;  from  18 10  to  1820,  something 
over  90  cents  a  day,  while  from  1840  to  i860  they  varied 
from  87^  cents  to  $1  a  day.  Printers  were  receiving, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  century,  about  $1.00  a  day,  and 
their  wages  had  increased  to  $1.75  by  i860.  Shoe- 
makers were  paid  73^5  cents  a  day,  on  the  average,  dur- 
ing the  decennial  period  1790  to  1800,  while  they  aver- 
aged from  1820  to  1830  $1.06  a  day,  reaching  $1.70  in 
i860.     Looking  to  cotton-mill  operatives,  whose  wages 

operatives.  are  not  quoted  much  prior  to  1820,  we  find  that  they 
were  paid  44  cents  a  day,  on  the  average,  between  1820 
and  1830,  nearly  90  cents  a  day  from  1830  to  1840. 
This  wage  held,  with  slight  increase,  to  1850,  while  dur- 
ing the  next  decade  of  years  their  average  pay  was  $1.03 


Wages  after 
1830. 


Labor  a?id  Rates  of   Wages,   ijgo-i8go.        217 

a  day.  Woolen-mill  operatives  did  somewhat  better, 
being  paid  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  factory  period,  that 
is,  the  decade  of  years  prior  to  1830,  $1.12  ;  they  rarely 
reached  this  high  wage  again  before  1880. 

The  record  of  wages  after  1830  is  far  more  complete, 
and  the  course  of  their  rise  or  fall  can  be  more  clearly 
stated.  In  1831  daily  wages  for  agricultural  laborers 
ranged  from  57.5  cents  to  $1.00;  blacksmiths  received 
from  $1.00  to  $1.25  per  day.  The  daily  average  for 
carpenters  was  $1.07,  but  ranged  as  high  as  $1.50,  while 
masons  received  $1.26.  Since  1873  wages  in  these 
staple  occupations  had  more  than  doubled,  but  the  seg- 
regation of  mechanics  and  labor  of  all  kinds  into  classes 
had  made  rapid  progress,  and  an  average  wage  for  such 
a  broad  grouping  conveys  no  idea  of  the  rates  of  wages 
for  the  different  classes.  The  average  daily  wages  for 
paper-mill  operatives  in  1831  was  66.6  cents,  printers 
$1.25,  shoemakers  $1.06,  cotton-mill  operatives  88.6 
cents,  woolen-mill  operatives  94.6  cents,  glassmakers 
$1.13,  and  millwrights  $1.21. 

During  the  thirty  years  from  1830  to  i860  two  violent 
commercial  convulsions  occurred,  one  in  1837  and  one  ly ' 
in  1857.  Excess- 
ive importations, 
speculation,  and 
the  abuse  of  the 
credit  system 
were  the  princi- 
pal causes  of  both 
these  business  de- 
pressions ;  both 
had  the  effect  of 

temporarily  reducing  wages  in  certain  industries.    \\  ages 
had  not  fully  recovered  from  the  panic  of  1857  by  i860. 


From  1830 


CITY    PUBLIC   WORKS. 

PERCENTAGE  . 

1854 
I860 
1870 
I860 
1890 

20       40      60       SO        100      120      140       160 

riii 

218      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   I  rnited  States. 


Average  for 

leading 

industries. 


COTTON   GOODS. 

PERCENTAGE. 

1840 
1850 
I860 
1870 
1880 
1890 

20       40       60       80       100      120      140       160 

5J5 

' 

The  averages  for  the  decade  ending  that  year,  however, 
show  a  decided  advance  over  1830.  An  average  for  the 
ten  years  ending  with  i860  gives  agricultural  laborers 
$1.01  per  day,  blacksmiths  $1.69,  carpenters  $2.03,  and 
masons  $1.53;  paper-mill  operatives  received  $1.17, 
printers  $1.75,  shoemakers  $1.70,  cotton-mill  operatives 
$1.03,  woolen- 
mill  operatives 
87.3  cents, 
glassmakers 
$2.96,  and 
millwrights 
$1.66.  The 
wages  in  all  of 
these  occu- 
pations,  with 

the  exception  of  woolen-mill  operatives,  show  an  advance 
over  1830.  The  percentage  of  increase  ranges  from 
16.3  for  cotton-mill  operatives  to  161. 9  for  glassmakers. 
On  making  a  similar  comparison  of  wages  for  twenty 
different  occupations,  it  is  found  that  but  one  shows  an 
increase  in  average  daily  wages. 

Without  considering  the  effect  that  the  war,  the  fluc- 
tuation in  currency,  or  the  financial  crisis  of  1873  may 
have  had  on  wages  during  the  twenty  years  from  i860 
to  1880,  we  will  compare  the  averages  for  i860  with  sim- 
ilar averages  for  1880.  Agricultural  laborers  in  1880 
received  $1.31  per  day,  blacksmiths  $2.28,  carpenters 
$2.42,  masons  $2.79,  paper-mill  operatives  $2.79,  print- 
ers $2.18,  shoemakers  $1.76,  cotton-mill  operatives 
$1.40,  woolen-mill  operatives  $1.24,  and  glassmakers 
$1.79.  These  average  wages  for  leading  industries  in- 
dicate the  general  increase  in  wages  in  all  occupations 
during  the  fifty  years  from  1830  to  1880,     But  a  general 


Labor  and  Rates  of   Wages,   1790-1890.        219 


AGRICULTURAL  IMPLEMENTS. 

PER  C  EN  T AGE  . 

I860 
1870 
1880 
1890 

2  0        40        60        80         100       120       140 

^5^™ 

average  wage  for  operatives  in  cotton,  woolen,  or  any 

other  branch  of  industry  in  which  there  are   numerous    Get>erai 

averages 

classes  of  employees,  each  class  being  graded  and  re-  ""satisfactory, 
ceiving  pay  in  proportion  to  the  importance  in  the  gen- 
eral result  and  the  degree  of  skill  and  care  required  of 
the  operative,  does 
not  convey  a  satis- 
factory idea  of  the 
actual  wages.  For 
instance,  the  daily 
wages  of  overseers 
in  the  carding  de- 
partment of  a  repre- 
sentative cotton  factory  in  Massachusetts  ranged  from 
$2.00,  with  thirteen  hours  of  labor,  in  1842  to  $5.00, 
with  ten  hours  of  labor,  in  1N91.  The  pay  for  overseers 
in  the  weaving  department  of  the  same  establishment 
advanced  from  $1.75  in  1843  to  S5.00  in  1891.  Con- 
sidering the 
lower  class  of 
labor  in  the 
same  factory,  we 
find  that  the 
average  daily 
wages  of  pick- 
ers and  section- 
hands  increased 
from  71.5  and 
69.5  cents,  respectively,  in  [842  to  $1.03  and  $1.64  in 
1891,  while  the  hours  of  work  decreased  from  thirteen 
to  ten. 

Carrying  this  comparison  of  actual  wages  for  distinct   RoprcscnU. 
classes  into  the  building  trades,  a  representative  estab-   £££tabU,h' 
lishment  in  New  York  reports  the  pay  for  carpenters 


BOOKS  AND  NEWSPAPERS. 

PERCENTAGE. 

1842 
1850 
I860 
1870 
1880 
1890 

20        -40        60        80         100       120        HO 

=: 

mm 

u 

— 

"T 

220      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Increase  in 
wages  of  special 
classes. 


Wages  taken 
from  pay-rolls. 


LUMBER. 

Percentage. 

1840 
1850 
I860 
1870 
1880 
1890 

20      40      60       SO       100      120      140      160 

^"" 

I 

in  1843  as  $1.50  per  day,  and  in  1891  $3.50,  with  the 
hours  of  work  reduced  from  ten  to  eight.  The  pay  of 
bricklayers  and  their  helpers  increased  from  $1.75  and 

$1.00,  respec- 
tively, in  1 85 1  to 
$4.00  and  $2.50, 
respectively,  in 
1 891,  with  a  de- 
crease of  two  hours 
in  working  time. 
The  daily  wages  of 
draughtsmen  and 
foremen  blacksmiths,  two  widely  separated  yet  depend- 
ent classes  of  labor,  as  reported  by  an  establishment 
engaged  in  manufacturing  metals  and  metallic  goods  in 
New  York,  increased  from  $1.75  and  $2.50,  respec- 
tively, in  1848  to  $5.31  and  $5.83  in  1891.  Making 
a  similar  comparison  for  an  entirely  different  class 
of  wage-earners,  that 
of  railroad  employees, 
we  find  the  pay  of 
locomotive  engineers 
and  firemen  increas- 
ing from  $2. 14  and 
$1.06  in  1840  to  $3. 77 
and  $1.96,  respec- 
tively, in  1 89 1  ;  dur- 
ing the  same  period  the  pay  of  passenger  car  conductors 
increased  from  $2. 1 1  to  $3.84. 

The  wages  just  given  are  taken  from  the  pay-rolls  of 
representative  establishments  and  indicate  the  increase 
in  the  actual  wages  for  given  occupations,  but  considered 
by  themselves  they  convey  a  wrong  impression  of  the 
average   wages.      While   the   pay  of  overseers  in  the 


METALS  &  METALLIC  GOODS. 

PERCENTAGE. 

1840 
1850 
I860 
1870 
I860 
1690 

20       40       60       80       100       120      140 

Labor  a?id  Rates  of   Wages,   ijgo-rSgo.      221 


PAPER. 

PERCENTAGE 

I860 
1870 
1880 
1890 

20       40       60        80        100      120      140      160 

1 

carding   and   weaving   departmant  of  a  cotton  factory- 
ranged  as  high  as  $5.00  per  day  in  1891,  we  find  by  the 

S.         .        &    -     .  .      l  '  .  ,  r  ■  Average  wages 

examination  of  sixty-four  cotton  and  woolen  lactones,    m  sixty-four 
scattered  throughout  twenty  states  and  employing  31,- 
657    hands,    that 
21,338     employ- 
ees,    or    67    per 
cent  of  the  total, 
received  between 
41    cents    and 
$1.20  per  day, 
while  only  24  em- 
ployees received  $5.00  or  more  per  day.     The  average 
daily  wages  for  the  industry,  then,  is  nearer  $1.00  than 
$5.00.      For  the  same  reason,  the  daily  wages  in  the 
manufacture  of  iron   and   steel  is   between   $1.00   and 
$2.00,  although    the    rates    ranged    from  41    cents    to 
$19.40  per  day.     Grouping  a  number  of  representative 
establishments  of  the  principal  manufacturing  industries 
which  employed  a  total  of  59,784  hands,  it  is  found  that 

20,969,  or  35  per 
cent  of  the  em- 
ployees, received 
from$i.ooto$i.6o 
per  day.  There- 
fore, the  average  ,u, . 
daily  wages  for  all 
classes  of  mechan- 
ics and  operatives 
in  factories  may  be  considered  as  having  been  between 
$1.00  and  $2.00,  although  the  proportionate  number  re- 
ceiving more  than  $2.00  per  day  was  somewhat  larger 
than  the  proportion  receiving  less  than  $1.00  per  day. 
Considering  the  wages  for  the  great  mass  of  wage- 


WOOLEN  GOODS. 

PERCENTAGE. 

1850 
I860 
1870 
1880 
1690 

20      40      60      80       100      120      140       160 

^^^^^ 

^^ 

"™™ 

^^™ 

^^_ 

1 

all  I  lasses. 


222      Industrial.  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Range  from 
1633  to  1891. 


Advance  in 

numerous 

occupations. 


RAILROADS. 

PERCENTAGE 

1840 
1850 
I860 
1870 
1880 
1890 

20       40       60       80       100      120      140       160 

1 

1 

■ 

earners,  the  common  and  agricultural  laborers,  during 
the  entire  period  since  1633,  the  daily  wages  for  the  best 
laborers  advanced  from  25  cents  to  33.3  cents  imme- 
diately before  the  Revolution,  to  42.5  cents  immedi- 
ately after,  and 
during  June  of 
1 89 1  the  wages  of 
common  laborers 
ranged  from  $2.50 
in  Montana  to  75 
cents  in  the  Caro- 
linas  and  $1.25  in 
New  York.  Farm 
laborers  received,  during  June,  1S91,  from  $30  to  $40 
per  month,  with  board  and  lodging,  in  Montana  and 
California,  to  $9  and  $10  in  the  Carolinas  and  Virginia, 
and  $15  to  $20  in  New  York.  Masons  (master  work- 
men) received  33.3  cents  per  day  in  1633  and  $1.00  in 
1790,  while  during  the  busy  season  of  1891  their  wages 
ranged  from  $4.50  to  $5.00  in  California  and  Colorado, 
$2.50  in  North  Carolina,  and  $2.50  and  $3.36  in  Penn- 
sylvania and  New 
York. 

The  wages 
paid  in  numerous 
occupations  can 
be  compared,  and 
in  each  instance 
the  same,  or  a 
similar,  advance  is  shown.  The  three  classes  given, 
however,  are  sufficient  with  data  given  in  Chapter  IX. , 
to  convey  an  idea  of  the  great  increase  in  the  money 
wages  of  all  classes  of  workmen  during  the  two  hundred 
and  fifty-eight  years.     While  the  number  actually  em- 


BUILDING  TRADES. 

PERCENTAOE  . 

1840 

1850 
I860 
1870 
1880 
1890 

zo      -40      60      so       no      >20      i«o      leo      >eo 

^^^^^J^^ 

HHMB    ImJmLM 

^^JJJJJ 

IMMTMI 

Labor  and  Rates  of   Wages,   i^po—iSpo.         223 


ployed  increases  or  diminishes  with  business  prosperity 
or  depression,  their  employment  or  idleness  appears  to 
have  had  but  little  effect  on  the  rate  of  pay.  Wages 
during-  almost  the  entire  period  have  had  an  upward 
tendency,  decreases  being-  the  exception  and  generally 
only  of  temporary  duration. 

Turning  from  the  specific  wages  paid  in  some  of  the 
leading  occupations,  it  is  interesting  to  study  the  relative  increase  in 
percentage  of  increase  of  wages  in  general.  This  can 
be  done  by  assuming  that  at  a  certain  period  wages  can 
be  represented  by  100,  or  par,  and  then  calculating  the 
increase  or  decrease  from  par  in  accordance  with  the 
facts.  *  Whatever  wages  were  in  i860,  they  are  quoted 
at  100.  Starting  from  this  basic  point,  it  has  been 
found  that,  taking  the  wages  (which  were  taken  from 
actual  pay-rolls)  in  twenty-two  industries  and  from 
nearly  one  hundred  distinct  establishments,  and  making 
a  simple  average,  the  percentages  stood  at  87.7  in  1840, 
as  compared  with  100  in  1S60  ;  that  in  1866  they  stood 
at  152.4,  and  in 
1891  at  160.7. 
But  it  might  be 
objected  that  a 
simple  average 
does  not  indicate 
the  general  per- 
centage of  in- 
crease or  de- 
crease ;    so    the 

figures  have  been  averaged  according  to  their  importance, 
each  industry  relative  to  all  industries,  as  represented  by 
the  number  employed  in  each.    On  this  basis,  taking  1 

*This  method  was  adopted  by  the  Senate  Committee  on  Finance  in  its  im- 
port on  "  Wholesale  Prices  and  Wages,"  being  Senate  Report  .%<■.  1394,  Fifty- 
second  Congress,  second  session. 


ALL  INDUSTRIES. 

PERCENTAOE. 

1840 
1850 
I860 
1870 
1880 
1890 

20       40        CO        80        100       120      140       K 

a 

Ji 

1    1    1 

All  industi  ies 
combined, 


224      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


1830  to  i860. 


as  represented  by  100  again,  it  is  found  that  the  general 
average  of  wages  in  1N40  is  represented  by  82.5,  in  1866 
by  155.6,  and  in  1891  by  168.6  ;  that  is  to  say,  on  this 
basis  wages  have  increased  since  i860,  as  is  shown  by 
percentages,  to  the  extent  of  68.6  per  cent ;  and  this 
figure  shows  the  course  of  wages  in  this  country  since 
that  year.  On  the  basis  of  100  in  i860,  the  increase  has 
been  from  82.5  in  1840  to  168.6  in  1891,  the  close  of 
the  period  discussed. 

It  is  difficult  always  to  make  a  statement  concerning 
the  course  of  prices  for  any  considerable  period  of  time 

that  will  be 
satisfactory  to 
all  students. 
The  actual 
price  of  dif- 
ferent articles 
does  not  alone 
indicate  such 
course,  be- 
cause one  article  enters  into  the  consumption  of  the 
people  in  slight  degree,  the  price  of  such  article  hav- 
ing a  wide  range,  while  another  article,  entering  largely 
into  consumption,  may  be  represented  by  a  price  quite 
steady  ;  so  there  is  always  contention  as  to  whether  the 
price  represented  by  the  basis  of  consumption  or  the 
degree  of  consumption  of  each  group  of  articles  has 
risen  or  fallen. 

In  the  Sixteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Massachusetts 
Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor  there  are  very  extensive 
quotations  of  the  prices  of  commodities  covering  the 
period  from  1752  to  1883  and  general  comparisons  from 
1830  to  i860.  Without  going  into  the  details  of  these 
comparisons,  it  appears  that  from  1830  to  i860  agricul- 


CARRIAGES  8c  WAGONS. 

PERCENTAGE. 

1840 
1850 
I860 
1870 
I860 
1890 

20        40        60        80         100       120       140       |60       160      200 

1            1            I            1 

i  i  i  i  ^r 

i  i 

Labor  and  Rates  of  Wages,   iygo-iSgo.        225 


tural  products  advanced  in  price  62.8  per  cent  ;  burning 
oils  and  fluids,  29  per  cent  ;  candles  and  soap,  42.6  per 
cent;  dairy  products,  38.8  per  cent;  fish,  9.8  per  cent ; 
flour  and  meal,  26  per  cent  ;  fuel,  meaning  by  this  wood 
only,  55.4  per  cent;  meats,  which  included  turkey  in 
this  particular  comparison,  53  per  cent.  On  the  other 
hand,  prices  declined  for  boots  and  shoes  38.9  per  cent ; 
clothing  and  dress  goods,  24.7  per  cent ;  dry  goods,  30.9 
per  cent ;  food  preparations,  17.5  per  cent ;  letter  paper, 
35. 1  per  cent ;  spices  and  condiments,  36.5  per  cent. 

By  a  consolidation  of  the  percentages  showing  either  Decline  in 
an  advance  or  decline  in  prices  for  the  fourteen  classes  pnces- 
of  articles  just  cited,  the  general  percentage  of  increase 
in  prices  is  found  to  be  9.6  per  cent.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  averages  for  the  same  classes  of  articles  be 
considered,  and  not  the  percentages  obtained  for  each 
class,  it  is  found  that  the  general  average  increase  in 
prices  was  15.7  per  cent.  The  mean  of  these  two  per- 
centages is  12.7,  and  this  more  probably  indicates  the 
correct  position  of  the  fourteen  classes  of  articles  just 
named  in  their  general  tendency  between  1830  and  i860. 

If,  however,  wages  for  the  same  period,  as  given  for 
the  various  occupations  named  in  the  report  cited  above, 
be  consolidated  and  averaged,  the  general  average  in- 
crease shown  for  the  period  ending  with  i860,  as  com- 
pared with  that  ending  with  1830,  is  52.3  per  cent. 
These  facts  clearly  indicate  that  for  that  thirty  years 
wages  advanced  to  a  much  greater  degree  than  prices. 

It  is  fortunate  that  the  public  can  now  have  recourse 
to  the  report  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Fin. huh-,  prices,  1840 to 
which  has  been  referred  to.  Wholesale  prices  are  given 
in  this  report  for  223  leading  articles  of  consumption 
from  1 840  to  1890,  and  taking  the  prices  of  these  articles 
as  a  whole,  and  considering  them  on  the  same  basis  as 


226      Industrial  J  •'.valid  ion  of  the   I  nited  States. 


Increase  in 
rents. 


that  on  which  wages  were  considered,  that  is,  assuming 
the  quotations  for  i860  to  be  100,  or  par,  it  is  found 
that  the  percentages  are,  for  1840,  97.7  per  cent  rela- 
tively to  100  in  i860,  187.7  f°r  J866,  and  94.4  for  1891 ; 
or,  in  other  words,  prices  generally,  so  far  as  the  223 
leading  articles  are  concerned,  fell  from  100  in  i860  to 
94.4  in  1 89 1. 

Placing  wages  and  prices  in  juxtaposition  in  a  general 

comparison,  it  is 
found  that  wages, 
considered  rela- 
tively to  the  im- 
portance of  one 
industry  to  all  in- 
dustries, stood  at 
168.6  in  1891 
relatively  to  100 
in  i860,  and  that 
the  prices  of  223 
commodities  en- 
tering into  con- 
sumption, on  the 
basis  of  the  importance  of  each  article  in  proportion  to 
the  importance  of  all,  fell  from  100  in  i860  to  94.4  in 
1 89 1.  The  conclusion,  therefore,  must  be  positive  and 
absolute  that,  while  the  percentage  of  increase  in  prices 
rose  in  1866  to  a  point  far  beyond  the  increase  in  wages, 
prices  had,  by  1891,  fallen  to  a  point  lower,  on  the 
whole,  than  they  were  in  1840,  and  wages  had  risen 
even  above  the  high  point  they  reached  in  1866. 

It  should  be  stated  that  in  these  percentages  the 
prices  of  rents  have  not  been  considered.  Rents  have 
increased  greatly,  but  taking  the  rise  in  rents  into  con- 
sideration, as  well  as  the  rise  in  food  products  and  some 


ALL  ARTICLES 
AVERAGED  ACCORDING  TO  IMPORTANCE, 
CERTAIN  EXPENDITURES  BEING  CONSIDERED 
UNIFORM. 

PERCENTAGE. 

1840 
1850 
I860 
1870 
1880 
1890 

20              40              6 

0           go            100 

Labor  and  Rales  of   Wages^   ijgo-iSgo.        227 


other  things,  and  drawing  a  general  conclusion  relative 
to  real  wages,  the  statements  just  made  must  hold  as 
practically  and  generally  established. 

These  few  illustrations — and  they  are  all  that  can  be 
given  comprehensively  in  this  work — show  quite  clearly 
the  real  wages  as  against  the  nominal  wages  of  the  work- 
ing people,  and  they  lead  to  the  statement  that  when- 
ever prices  of  commodities  rise  they  rise  higher,  rela- 
tively, than  does  the  price  of  labor,  and  that  when  prices 


ALL  ARTICLES 

AVERAGED  ACCORDING  TO  IMPORTANCE, 


PERCENTAGE. 


1840 

1850 
I860 
1870 
1880 
1890 


f    t    •-     !     ;  ZZ 


20         40         60        80         100 


■       '  \H 





■i   i  „.  ..■   1  m 


ZZZ3 


'"'    ■■■::  ."— - 


■— ■ 


ZZ3 


CERTAIN  EXPENDITURES  BEING  CONSIDERED  UNirORM  C-3 
COMPRISING   68.60  PERCENT   OF   TOTAL  EXPENDITURE    MM 


All  articles 
averaged. 


go  down  they  go  down  much  lower,  relatively,  than  does 
the  price  of  labor,  which  remains  ordinarily  very  nearly 
at  its  inflated  price  ;  for,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  wages  of  Comparison 

r  ii-ii-  •  with  inflated 

1S90  and  1891  were  very  nearly  as  high,  and  m  many  in-   ,, 
stances  quite  as  high,  as  they  were  in  the  inflated  period 
from  i860  to  1S70.     This  statement  is  further  illustrated 
by  the  fact  that  a  carpenter  receiving  $3.50  per  day  in 


228      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 

1866,  in  the  inflated  currency  of  that  year,  received  the 
Currency  and  same  face  pay,  that  is,  $3.50,  in  1891,  on  a  gold  basis  ; 
so,  too,  in  prices  one  could  buy,  in  1840,  calico  at  12 
cents  a  yard,  while  in  1866  the  same  goods,  in  the  in- 
flated currency  of  that  year,  sold  for  21  cents  a  yard, 
and  in  1891  they  could  be  bought  for  6  cents  a  yard,  on 
a  gold  basis.  It  has  not  been  worth  while,  therefore, 
in  any  of  the  comparisons  which  have  been  given  in  this 
chapter  to  reduce  values  to  a  gold  basis. 


PART  III. 
THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT. 


PART  III -THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT. 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 

THE    INCEPTION    OF    THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

In  this  part  the  story  of  what   is   commonly  called 

•  Labor's 

'  the  labor  movement '    is  told.      This  movement  com-  attempts  to 

t_  r  1     i  secure  its 

prehends  the  attempts  of  labor  to  secure  its  demands  and  demands, 
its  efforts  at  organization,  labor  legislation,  strikes,  lock- 
outs, and  boycotts.  The  labor  question  has  been  present 
always  in  the  development  of  the  world.  In  ancient  times 
there  were  guilds,  societies,  and  various  organizations  for 
one  purpose  or  another  ;  but  since  industry  has  become 
organized  and  the  factory  system  a  fixture  the  labor  move- 
ment has  assumed  entirely  new  features,  and  its  propor- 
tions cover  a  vast  range  of  questions  involving  economics 
and  ethics.  The  labor  movement  is  the  labor  question, 
and  the  labor  question,  concretely  stated,  is_the  effortjj£ 

,  '  i  •    i  i        ,       c  ..    '.  T       I. at>or  question 

wage-workers' tQ_s_ecure  a  higher  standard  of  hying.  It  defined. 
is  their  struggle  upward.  How  to  secure  the  ends  for 
which  the  struggle  is  instituted  is  probably  the  great 
question  of  the  day.  Contemporaneous  with  the  de- 
velopment of  the  industries  of  the  United  States  the 
movement  referred  to  has  taken  place,  and  the  speed  oi 
the  movement  has  been  accelerated  as  the  development 
has  grown.  The  industrial  evolution  of  the  United 
States,  therefore,  involves  the  labor  movement  in  its  en- 
tirety, and  the  account  of  its  various  features  and  of  the 
complications  resulting  from  the  continued  struggle  be- 
comes legitimate  in  any  account  of  the  evolution. 

231 


232       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    ITnitcd  States. 


Little  organi- 
zation prior  to 
factory  system. 


Ship  calkers. 


Prior  to  the  establishment  of  the  factory  system  there 
was  little  organization.  The  southern  colonies,  having 
the  slave  system  for  the  prosecution  of  their  industries, 
did  not  offer  any  fertile  field  for  the  wage-worker  to  agi- 
tate the  questions  which  interested  him.  The  northern 
colonies,  while  having  a  different  system  of  labor,  offered 
but  little  field  for  such  agitations,  because  industry  was 
primitive  in  its  nature,  land  was  plenty,  laborers  were  in 
demand,  and  habits  and  wants  were  simple  ;  and  yet  the 
labor  movement  of  the  country,  in  the  broadest  sense, 
had  its  birth  in  both  Virginia  and  Plymouth,  for  the  two 
represented  antagonistic  systems  of  labor,  the  results  be- 
ing of  vast  importance  to  the  welfare  of  the  country,  the 
antagonism  culminating  in  1S61  in  the  great  Civil  War. 

The  two  systems  of  labor  had  their  effect  in  various 
directions,  both  in  the  economics  of  production  and  in 
the  relation  of  the  laborer  to  society.  The  comparison  of 
free  with  slave  labor  has  been  treated  in  its  appropriate 
chapter,  but  the  very  conditions  of  slave  labor  prevented 
organization,  and  so  no  traces  of  any  labor  movement 
prior  to  the  Civil  War  can  be  found  in  the  South.  Free 
labor,  however,  offered  opportunities  for  movements  in 
various  directions,  and  yet,  on  account  of  the  conditions 
already  cited,  history  does  not  reveal  any  concerted 
action  of  any  consequence  during  the  colonial  period, 
except,  it  may  be,  in  the  early  days  in  Massachusetts, 
when  the  ship  calkers,  who  were  politicians,  organized 
what  was  known  as  the  "Calkers'  Club,"  the  purpose  of 
which  was  ' '  to  lay  plans  for  introducing  certain  persons 
into  places  of  trust  and  power. ' '  Samuel  Adams'  s  father, 
at  a  date  as  early  as  1724,  took  an  active  part  in  this 
club,  and  it  is  from  its  name,  it  is  said,  that  the  term 
"caucus"  was  derived.  But  the  elements  of  organiza- 
tion were  wanting,  for  such  organization  comes  through 


The  Inception  of  the  Labor  Movement.         233 

the  aggregation  of  laborers  in  industrial  centers.  As 
sociation  is  the  life  principle  of  industry  as  well  as  of  all 
efforts  at  progress,  and  so  in  all  probability  there  were 
societies  of  tradesmen  of  different  classes  having  various 
motives  in  forming  their  associations.  The  domestic 
system  of  labor,  which  kept  workers  in  individual  work- 
shops and  in  their  homes,  stood  in  the  way  of  extensive 
organization  ;  thus  it  was  not  until  the  opening  of  the 
present  century  that  labor  unions  began  to  have  any  in- 
fluence in  the  shaping  of  affairs.  They,  however,  exer- 
cised but  little  influence  until  after  the  first  quarter  of  the 
century  had  passed. 

The  tailors,  who  have  always  been  active  participants 
in  political  matters,  established  a  trades  union  as  far  back  Tailors'  unions. 
as  1806.  This  association  probably  grew  from  the  in- 
fluence exerted  by  members  of  the  craft  coming  from 
England,  who  preserved  their  loyalty  to  the  Jounnvnu  11 
Tailors'  Unions  of  the  old  country.  There  were  like 
organizations  of  hatters  in  181 9,  and  the  shipwrights  and  Uv, 
calkers  established  their  order  in  1S22,  under  the  name 
of  the  "Columbian  Charitable  Society  of  Shipwrights 
and  Calkers  of  Boston  and  Charlestown,"  and  in  1823 
the  legislature  of  Massachusetts  granted  the  society  a 
charter.  April  3,  1803,  there  was  incorporated  in  the 
city  of  New  York  an  association  called  the  "  New  York 
Society  of  Journeymen  Shipwrights,"  while  another  so-   shipwrights. 

cietywas  created  in  1806,  known  as  the  "House  Carpen-   """-<-• 
j  carpenters. 

ters  of  the  City  of  New  York."  The  compositors  of  the 
latter  city  were  also  probably  organized  in  the  early 
years  of  the  present  century,  for  history  shows  that 
Thurlow  Weed  was  elected  a  member  as  early  as  [817. 
Their  society  was  known  as  the  "  New  York  Typographi-  C"<"V' 
cal  Society,"  Peter  Force  being  its  president.  Curiously 
enough,    although    Mr.    Weed's   residence   in    Albany 


234      Industrial  Evolution  of  tlie   United  States. 


enabled  him  to  secure  the  incorporation  of  the  society, 
there  was  a  strike  in  Mr.  Weed's  office  in  1821,  which 
grew  out  of  the  fact  that  one  of  his  compositors  was  a 
"  rat,"  that  is,  a  non-union  man. 

With  the  year  1825  new  elements  and  purposes  ap- 
peared, and  the  way  was  opened  for  the  development  of 
the  labor  movement.  It  would  be  difficult  to  assign 
any  single  ruling  cause  for  the  new  spirit  which  arose 
after  that  year,  yet  many  reasons  may  be  assigned  for 
it.  The  demand  for  less  hours  of  labor  and  for  higher 
wages  and  experiments  in  cooperation  may  have  had 
much  to  do  with  the  inauguration  of  the  movement. 
The  spirit  of  association  was  rapidly  developed  through 
the  influence  of  the  altruistic  preachings  of  Robert 
Owen,  who  came  to  this  country  in  1S24.  Owen  had 
established  one  of  the  most  prominent  experiments  in 
the  Old  World  for  the  amelioration  of  bad  conditions 
in  labor  communities.  This  was  at  New  Lanark  in 
Scotland.  His  chief  experience  there  was  in  the  year 
1 8 19,  but  he  carried  his  experiments  to  such  a  success 
that  he  gained  respect  and  renown  everywhere. 

The  main  cause  of  his  success  began  with  the  practical 
improvement  of  the  working  people  under  his  superintend- 
ence as  manager  and  afterward  as  owner  of  the  cotton- 
mills  at  New  Lanark.  He  found  himself  surrounded 
by  squalor  and  poverty,  intemperance  and  crime.  He 
erected  healthy  dwellings  with  adjacent  gardens,  and  let 
them  at  cost  price  to  his  people.  He  built  stores  where 
goods  of  proper  quality  might  be  purchased  at  whole- 
sale prices,  and  so  aided  in  removing  the  pernicious 
effects  of  what  is  known  as  the  "truck  system."  He 
established  the  first  infant  school  in  Great  Britain,  and  he 
excluded  all  under  ten  years  from  his  workshops  and 
made  the  physical  and  moral  training  of  the  young  his 


The  Inception  of  the  Labor  More  moil.  235    ' 

special  care.  He  adopted  measures  to  put  down  drunk- 
enness and  to  encourage  the  savings  of  the  people.  As  ^Vffnecib 
a  natural  consequence,  the  employees  became  attached  °wcn- 
to  their  employer,  taking  a  personal  interest  in  the  suc- 
cess of  the  business,  and  laboring  ably  and  conscien- 
tiously to  make  the  mills  of  New  Lanark  a  great  finan- 
cial success.  An  American  traveler,  Mr.  Griscom, 
visited  Owen's  mills  in  1819,  and  in  making  a  report 
upon  them  used  the  following  language  : 

There  is  not,  I  apprehend,  to  be  found  in  any  part  of  the 
world  a  manufacturing  village  in  which  so  much  order,  good 
government,  tranquillity,  and  rational  happiness  prevail.  It  af- 
fords an  eminent  and  instructive  example  of  the  good  that  may 
be  effected  by  well-directed  efforts  to  promote  the  real  com- 
fort, and,  I  may  add,  the  morality  of  the  laboring  classes. 

And  Kaufmann,  in  his  work  on  socialism,  speaks  of 
New  Lanark  as  one  of  the  romantic  valleys  of  the  Clyde 
which  have  been  invested  with  the  charm  of  poetry  by 
Sir  Walter  Scott,  and  as  having  also  been  rendered  the 
scene  of  an  earthly  paradise,  from  a  social  point  of  view, 
by  Robert  Owen.  It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  that 
when  Owen  came  to  America  in    1824  his  fame  came  Owen's  fame 

.   ,  preceded  his 

with  him  and  the  laborers  caught  a  new  spirit  and  a  new  coming. 
enthusiasm  in  relation  to  their  surroundings.  He  re- 
ceived great  attention  from  the  American  people,  and  it 
is  probable  that  he  laid  the  basis  for  the  rapid  extension 
of  Fourierism  over  the  whole  country,  probably  more 
than  two  hundred  communistic  villages  having  been 
founded  in  the  United  States  as  the  result  of  the  doc- 
trines taught  by  Charles  Fourier.*  Some  of  these  vil- 
lages still  exist,  but  their  prosperity,  such  as  came  to 
them,  was  due  largely  to  the  fact  that  they  traded  with 
the  world  and  the  world  was  not  communistic.      It  is  not 

*  For  an  account   of  these  communities   see  "History  of  American  So- 
cialisms," by  John  Humphrey  Noyes. 


236      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Period  of 

reform 

movements. 


Early  labor 
literature. 


necessary  here  to  discuss  their  peculiarities  and  charac- 
teristics, but  it  is  well,  perhaps,  to  remark  that  Horace 
Greeley,  Albert  Brisbane,  Charles  A.  Dana,  and  others 
equally  well  known,  were  interested  in  the  movement 
and  helped  to  establish  some  of  the  most  celebrated 
Fourieristic  societies,  the  most  notable  of  which  was 
that  at  Brook  Farm,  in  Massachusetts.  Most  of  these 
attempts  died  after  a  few  years  of  feverish  existence, 
and  yet  they  had  an  immense  influence,  extending  over 
twenty  or  thirty  years,  in  calling  attention  to  socialistic 
and  even  communistic  attempts. 

The  period  from  1825  to  1850  may  well  be  called  the 
period  of  reform  movements,  many  of  them  having  but 
brief  existence,  others  being  firmly  established  in  the 
minds  of  the  people  and  extending  in  their  influence  be- 
yond the  associations  which  promulgated  reform  doc- 
trines, and  which  are,  many  of  them,  felt  even  at  the 
present  day  and  will  be  felt  for  generations  to  come. 

Another  reason,  perhaps,  for  the  concentration  of  ef- 
fort by  working  people  is  found  in  the  rapidly  develop- 
ing factory  system,  the  very  essence  of  which  is  the 
principle  of  association.  The  concentration  of  popu- 
lation in  industrial  centers,  as  already  remarked,  fostered 
organization.  These,  and  it  may  be  other  reasons,  suf- 
ficiently account  for  the  extension  of  the  labor  move- 
ment after  the  year  1825.  Certain  it  is  that  unions 
began  to  be  formed  everywhere  in  the  Northern  States 
and  the  agitation  for  legislation  for  workingmen  specifi- 
cally carried  on.  Boston  and  New  York  were  the 
most  prominent  localities  in  these  movements.  Labor 
literature  began  to  appear  as  the  result,  and  as  early  as 
1825  the  Working  Man' s  Advocate  was  published  in 
New  York  City.  Dr.  Richard  T.  Ely,  in  his  excel- 
lent work  on    "The   Labor   Movement   in   America," 


The  Inception  of  the  /moo/-  Movement.         237 

thinks  it  probable  that  this  was  the  first  appearance  of  a 

representative  labor  press  in  the  United  States.       This 

publication   was    followed   by   the   Daily  Sentinel  and   r>biications <n 
*  J  ■'  the  1 

Young  America,    all    published   by    two    Englishmen,    brot! 

George  Henry  Evans  and  Frederick  W.    Evans,   who 

came  to  this  country  in  1820.  The  former  was  a  land 
reformer.  More  than  six  hundred  papers  in  the  country 
indorsed  the  demands  which  these  men  made  through 
their  papers.  These  demands  comprehended  the  right 
of  man  to  the  soil,  the  breaking  up  of  monopolies,  the 
freedom  of  public  lands,  the  inalienability  of  homestead-, 
and  called  for  the  abolition  of  all  laws  for  the  collection 
of  debts  and  for  the  adoption  of  a  general  bankrupt  law. 
They  also  demanded  a  lien  for  the  laborer  upon  his  own 
work  for  his  wages,  the  abolition  of  imprisonment  f<  >r 
debt,  equal  rights  for  women  with  men  in  all  respects, 
and  the  abolition  of  chattel  slavery  and  of  wages  slavery. 
From  Thurlow  Weed's  autobiography  it  is  learned 
that  a  "Workingman's  Convention"  was  held  at  Syra- 
cuse, in  the  state  of  New  York,  in  1830,  at  which 
Ezekiel  Williams  was  nominated  for  governor.  In  the 
election  which  followed  less  than  three  thousand  votes, 
however,  were  cast  for  Mr.  Williams,  but  the  next  year 
the  movers,  under  the  name  of  the  "  Workingmen's 
Party,"  united  with  the  Whigs  and  succeeded  in  el< 
ing  three  or  four  members  of  the  legislature.  It  was 
from  this  movement  that  the  Loco-Foco  party  originated. 

A  great  convention  was  held  in  Boston  on  the  16th  of 

0  .     .  r  .  ,  ,    Boston  ■  onven- 

February,  1831,   consisting  of  farmers,   mechanics,  and  tkmoi 
other  workingmen.  *     From  this  grew  a  delegate  con- 
vention which  was  held  in   the  subsequent  year,  on  the 
6th  of  September,  in  Boston.     Many  of  the  men  after 


♦See  First  Annual  Report  of  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor, 

1870. 


23<S      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Various  points 
considered  by 
the  convention. 


Similar  meet- 
ings and  their 
discussions. 


ward  prominent  in  politics  and  in  business  were  members 
of  this  convention.  It  discussed  landed  interests,  taxa- 
tion, and  cooperative  trading.  Ten  points  were  con- 
sidered by  it.  These  were  the  organization  of  a  central 
committee  for  each  state  ;  (the  institutions  of  lyceums  or 
institutes  ;  reform  in  the  militia  system  ;  the  expediency 
of  calling  a  national  convention  of  workingmen  ;  the  ten- 
hour  system  ;  the  effect  of  banking  institutions  and  other 
monopolies  upon  the  condition  of  the  laboring  classes  ; 
the  improvement  of  the  system  of  education,  includ- 
ing the  recommendation  of  such  legislative  enactments 
in  relation  to  the  internal  economies  of  factories  as  would 
insure  to  the  operatives  a  competent  degree  of  instruc- 
tion ;  the  abolition  of  imprisonment  for  debt ;  the  adop- 
tion of  a  national  bankrupt  law  ;  the  extension  of  the 
right  of  suffrage,  and  lien  laws.  These  points  were 
similar  in  many  respects  to  the  demands  already  referred 
to  as  announced  by  the  Evans  brothers.  The  Hon. 
Edward  Everett  commended  the  organization  of  the 
Workingmen' s  party  in  a  lecture  which  he  delivered  be- 
fore the  Charlestown  Lyceum  in  Massachusetts.  Other 
meetings  were  held  in  the  city  of  Boston,  at  which  it  was 
recommended  that  the  mechanics  of  all  branches  should 
hold  meetings  by  themselves  for  the  purpose  of  consult- 
ing together  and  of  doing  all  possible  to  come  to  a 
mutual  agreement  upon  the  system  of  working  hours. 
At  various  meetings  and  by  various  conventions  ques- 
tions which  to-day  are  being  discussed  by  labor  organ- 
izations were  carefully  considered,  the  relation  of  em- 
ployers to  employees,  the  question  of  whether  the  ten- 
hour  system  is  a  benefit,  and  such  matters,  being  the 
prominent  subjects  of  consideration.  The  right  of  la- 
borers to  organize  for  the  purpose  of  securing  and  pro- 
tecting their  interests  and  the  question  as  to  whether  a 


The  Inception  of  tlic  Labor  Movement.  239 

general  trades  union  would  diminish  strikes  and  lock- 
outs were  also  prominent  in  the  discussions.  Following 
the  meetings  of  1  S3 1  and  1832  in  Boston,  "  The  <  General 
Trades  Unions  of  the  City  of  New  York  "  were  active  S^*™1  .  . 
in  discussing  the  questions  cited.  This  is  the  first  at-  of  New  York. 
tempt,  so  far  as  any  accounts  go  to  establish  the  fact,  to 
unite  workingmen  of  different  trades  in  one  organization. 
In  later  years  this  has  been  the  rule 

The  movement  during  the  succeeding  years  took  van-  , 

ous  forms,  the  employers  taking  a  part   in  the  matter  mercb 

\         J  O  1  Sllip-OWti' 

from  their  point  of  view.  The  merchants  and  ship-owners 
of  Boston,  at  a  meeting  held  in  the  Exchange  Coffee 
Rooms  on  the  15th  of  May,  1832,  voted  to  "discounte- 
nance and  check  the  unlawful  combination  formed  to 
control  the  freedom  of  individuals  as  to  the  hours  of 
labor,  and  to  thwart  and  embarrass  those  by  whom  they 
are  employed  and  liberally  paid. "  The  report  of  this 
meeting  also  sets  forth  "  the  pernicious  and  demoralizing 
tendency  of  these  combinations,  and  the  unreasonable- 
ness of  the  attempt,  in  particular  where  mechanics  are 
held  in  so  high  estimation  and  their  skill  in  labor  so 
liberally  rewarded."     The  members  of  that  meeting  held 

that  labor  ought  always  to  be  left  free  to  regulate  itself,    Their  \ 
fe  J  111    to  empl 

and  that  neither  the  employee  nor  the  employer  should 

have  the  power  to  control  the  other;  and  they  looked 
with  deep  regret  upon  the  course  pursued  by  their  fel- 
low-citizens, the  journeymen,  in  the  adoption  and  main- 
tenance of  a  system  of  measures  designed  to  coerce  indi 
viduals  of  their  craft  and  to  prescribe  the  time  and  man 
ner  of  their  labor.  The  employers  claimed  that  labor 
organization  would  drive  the  trade  from  the  city,  and  in 
their  conclusions  they  resolved  :  "  We  will  neither  employ 
any  journeyman  who  at  the  time  belongs  to  such  combi- 
nations, nor  will  we  give  work  to  any  master  mechanic 


240      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Failure  of  ten- 
liour  move- 


Brief  story  of 
labor  organiza- 
tion. 


who  shall  employ  them  while  they  continue  thus  pledged 
to  each  other  and  refuse  to  work   the  hours  which  it  has 
been   and   is   now  customary  for  mechanics  to  work." 
The  resolutions  were  signed  by  the  representatives  of 
one  hundred  and  six  firms. 

The  movement  for  ten  hours  was  a  failure,  so  far  as 
success  at  the  time  it  was  originated  was  concerned,  but 
it  is  probably  true  that  it  resulted  in  increasing  the  mem- 
bership of  organizations  and  in  intensifying  the  agitation. 
The  men  were  not  destitute  of  influential  friends,  how- 
ever. In  Massachusetts  such  men  as  William  Ellery 
Channing,  Robert  Rantoul,  Horace  Mann,  and  James 
G.  Carter,  advocated  their  claims.  Education,  and  all 
that  education  means,  was  preached  as  the  surest  method 
of  reaching  the  aims  of  the  labor  organizations.  It  was 
the  whole  burden  of  Channing' s  lectures  on  self-culture 
and  the  laboring  classes.  He  had  great  confidence  in 
them,  believed  in  their  wisdom  and  integrity,  and  that 
they  were  perfectly  competent  to  so  develop  their  mental 
and  moral  powers  as  to  enable  them  to  meet  the  great 
questions  of  the  time. 

But  the  story  of  labor  organization,  its  course,  its  suc- 
cesses, its  failures,  the  philosophy  underlying  it,  the  in- 
fluence it  has  exerted  in  many  directions,  would  fill 
volumes  in  itself.  It  is  sufficient  here  to  say  that,  no 
matter  what  the  opposition  of  any  particular  period  was 
or  the  character  it  assumed,  no  matter  what  antagonisms 
within  disturbed  their  order,  no  matter  how  defections 
reduced  their  ranks  at  times  and  jealousies  prevented 
their  immediate  success,  labor  organizations  from  1825 
continued  through  success  and  failure,  their  propaganda 
extending  first  to  all  great  cities  and  ultimately  to  all 
parts  of  the  land. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

LABOR    ORGANIZATIONS. 

The  history  of  organizations  constitutes  an  integral 
part  of  the  history  of  the  country,  and  their  growth  to  organized  labor 
the  present  time  an  influential  feature  of  industrial  de-  fSal  history? 
velopment.  Their  relation  to  strikes,  their  advocacy  of 
all  educational  methods,  their  conservative  action  at 
times  offset  the  radicalism  which  has  at  the  same  time  led 
them  into  injudicious  action.  Through  the  years  be- 
tween 1825  and  the  present  time  their  history  is  a  pro- 
gressive one,  and  its  details  would  bring  into  prominence 
almost  every  industry  in  the  country.  Out  of  them 
there  have  grown  some  great  associations  or  organiza- 
tions, developing  power  and  bringing  to  the  attention  of 
the  country  conditions  which  need  reforming  and  rela- 
tions which  call  for  the  highest  ethical  influence  to  secure 
proper  adjustment.* 


In  this  progress  events  in  Europe  have  had  more  or  contributing 

cause--  t" 
agitation. 


less   influence,    those  of    1848   in    France   contributing  c 


largely  to  the  renewal  of  the  agitation  of  American  so- 
cialism and  labor  reform.  The  exodus  from  Ireland 
following  the  famine  and  increasing  the  volume  of  immi- 
gration to  the  United  States  contributed  to  the  agitation. 
The  pressure  in  our  own  country  also  helped  tin-  move- 
ment.    One  of  the  chief  and  most  annoying  questions 

*  For  an  excellent  account  of  special  organizations  ami  details  of  their 
growth,  demands,  and  doctrines, see  "The  Labor  Movement:  The  Problem 
of  To-Day,"  edited  by  George  E.  McNeill :  Boston,  1887:  "TheStoryol  Man 

ual   Labor,"  by  John  Cameron  Simonds  :   Chicago,   [886;  "   llnm    V*( 
Labor,"   by   T.   V.    Powderly :    Columbus,   O.  ;    "The    Laboi     Movement    in 

America,"  by  Richard  T.  Ely,  Ph.D.  :  New  Vork,  1886. 


242       Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Long  hours  of 
labor  cause  of 
discussion. 


President  Van 
Buren's  procla- 
mation. 


Ten-hour 
agitation  in 
Massachusetts. 


was  that  of  the  hours  of  labor.  The}-  were  excessively 
long.  Twelve,  thirteen,  and  fourteen  hours  a  day  were 
not  uncommon  in  textile  factories  and  in  some  other 
lines,  and  at  times  even  sixteen  hours  constituted  a  nor- 
mal working-  day.  The  wage-earners  protested  against 
this,  and  the  protests  were  made  at  an  early  day,  so 
early  that  the  agitation  for  ten  hours  can  be  said  to  be 
contemporaneous  with  the  beginning  of  the  labor  move- 
ment. It  now  constitutes  an  important  element  in  labor 
agitations,  notwithstanding  that  in  many  places  the  pur- 
pose of  organization  in  this  respect  has  been  accom- 
plished. When  the  agitation  was  strong  and  yet  an 
issue  undecided,  one  of  the  presidents  of  the  United 
States,  Mr.  Van  Buren,  issued  a  proclamation  or  a 
general  order,  April  10,  1840,  introducing  the  ten-hour 
system  into  the  navy  yard  at  Washington,  D.  C. ,  and 
in  "all  public  establishments."  The  ten-hour  day  had 
received  sanction  in  the  city  of  Baltimore  some  time 
before  President  Van  Buren  interceded.  The  laborers 
in  that  city  proclaimed  to  the  world  that  ten  hours 
should  constitute  a  day's  labor.  They  won  in  the 
conflict,  and  ever  since  ten  hours  a  day  has  been  the  rule 
in  that  city.  In  1845  the  agitation  was  stimulated  in 
Massachusetts  throughout  the  textile  industry,  but  it  was 
not  until  1874  that  a  law  was  passed  making  ten  hours 
the  normal  day  in  that  state  for  women  and  children. 
William  Claflin,  one  of  the  governors  of  the  state,  later 
on  openly  advocated  the  ten-hour  system.  To-day  that 
system  prevails  almost  everywhere  in  the  country,  and  in 
some  states  law  has  established,  under  certain  conditions, 
even  a  shorter  day.  This  will  be  referred  to  more  fully 
under  "Labor  Legislation." 

This  account  of  labor  organizations,  general  and  brief 
as  it  has  been  necessarily,  should  not  be  closed  without 


Labor  Organizations. 


243 


Leading 

unions. 


International 

Typographical 

Union. 


mention  of  the  leading  unions  now  in  existenceand  exert- 
ing an  influence  in  the  affairs  of  the  country.  <  )ne  <  >f  the 
most  important  of  these  is  the  International  Typograph- 
ical Union.  Nearly  every  state  and  territory  is  now  repre- 
sented at  its  annual  sessions.  This  union  has  had  mam- 
distinguished  friends,  notably  the  late  George  W.  Childs, 
of  The  Public  Ledger,  of  Philadelphia  ;  Mr.  Anthony 
J.  Drexel,  one  of  the  great  bankers  of  that  city  ; 
and  others  who  have  passed  away,  and  many  prominent 
men,  statesmen,  and  business  men  still  living.  So  far 
as  the  writer  can  ascertain,  this  union  traces  its  origin  to 
1850,  when  a  "National  Convention  of  Journeymen 
Printers ' '  met  in  New  York.  The  next  year  a  meeting 
was  held  in  Baltimore,  but  a  permanent  organization  was 
not  effected  until  1852,  when  delegates  met  in  Cincinnati. 
The  title  "  National  Typographical  Union"  was  at  that 
time  adopted,  but  this  name  was  changed  to  "Interna- 
tional Typographical  Union"  at  the  annual  meeting  in 
Albany,  N.  Y. ,  in  1869.  The  word  "international" 
was  introduced  in  order  to  bring  into  the  organization 
Canadian  printers.  Dr.  Ely,  in  his  work  already  quoted, 
asserts  that  "international"  as  a  part  of  the  title  of 
American  trades  unions  is  intended  to  include  members 
from  the  United  States  and  Canada,  few  of  them  in- 
cluding Europeans.  The  International  Typographical  oldest  existing 
TT...         ,,  ..  .  .  .'         .  ,       trades  union  in 

Union  is  the  oldest  existing  American  tracks  union.      In   America. 

this  respect  the  American  labor  movement  resembles  the 
labor  movement  elsewhere,  for  generally  we  find  the 
printers  among  the  pioneers  in  the  organization  of  labor. 
This  is  true  of  Italy,  France,  and  Germany,  the  print- 
ers' unions  being  among  the  oldest  and  strongest  of 
existing  labor  organizations.* 

Following  the  Printers'  Union,  the  hatters  e>tal dished 

*  "The  Labor  Movement  in  America,"  by  Richard  T.  I 


244      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Hatters'  unions. 


Iron-molders. 


Locomotive 
engineers. 


Cigar-makers. 
Bricklayers. 

Conductors. 


Iron  and  steel 
workers. 


Granite  cutters. 


Carpenters 
and  joiners. 


Bakers. 


their  great  organization.  This  was  in  1 854,  the  ' '  National 
Trade  Association  of  Hat  Finishers  of  the  United  States 
of  America  "  being  organized  in  that  year.  In  1868, 
however,  it  divided,  one  branch  keeping  the  old  name  and 
the  other  taking  the  name  of  the  "Silk  and  Fur  Hat  Fin- 
ishers' Trade  Association  of  the  United  States  of 
America. ' ' 

A  noted  trades  union  is  the  "  Iron-Molders'  Union  of 
North  America,"  founded  July  5,  1859,  and  the  "Ma- 
chinists' and  Blacksmiths'  Union  of  North  America," 
founded  in  the  same  year,  and  incorporated  at  that  time 
by  Congress,  was  once  a  powerful  and  influential  body. 
It  does  not  now,  however,  exert  any  influence,  and  it  is 
doubtful  if  it  exists.  The  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive 
Engineers  started  as  the  ' '  Brotherhood  of  the  Foot- 
Board,  at  Detroit,"  August  17,  1863,  but  on  the  same 
date  in  the  next  year  it  reorganized  under  the  name  and 
title  of  the  "  Grand  International  Brotherhood  of  Loco- 
motive Engineers."  The  "Cigar-Makers'  National 
Union,"  born  in  1864;  the  "Bricklayers'  and  Masons' 
International  Union,"  instituted  October  17,  1865  ;  the 
"  Order  of  Railway  Conductors, ' '  organized  as  the  ' '  Con- 
ductors' Brotherhood"  in  1868;  the  "United  States 
Wool  Hat  Finishers'  Association,"  organized  in  1869  ; 
the  "Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Firemen,"  organized 
the  same  year  ;  the  ' '  National  Union  of  Horseshoers  of 
the  United  States,"  dating  from  1875  ;  the  "  Amalga- 
mated Association  of  Iron  and  Steel  Workers,"  one  of 
the  strongest  trades  unions  in  the  United  States,  starting 
in  1876;  the  "Granite  Cutters'  National  Lhiion  of  the 
United  States,"  organized  in  1877  ;  the  "Brotherhood  of 
Carpenters  and  Joiners,"  organized  in  1881  ;  the  "Rail- 
road Brakemen,"  in  1SS4  ;  the  "Journeymen  Bakers'  Na- 
tional Union,"  in  1886,  etc.,  etc.,  constitute  the  leading 


Labor  Organizations.  245 

trades  unions  of  the  country.      Many  of  these  unions  have 

weekly  newspapers  of  more  or  less  influence. 

The  three  great  orders  which  to-day  exert  the  most    l!,,""«reat 
*>  j  ord 

general  influence  in  this  country  are  the  Knights  of  Labor, 
American  Federation  of  Labor,  and  American  Railway 
Union,    and  their  prominence   warrants   a   statement    of 
some  of  the  leading  facts  connected  with  their  history  and 
principles.    These  three  great  orders  are  founded  on  two   Measofaa 
separate  but  fundamental  ideas,   the  Knights  of  Labor  al"",s- 
and  the  American  Railway  Union  upon  one  idea,  and  tin- 
American  Federation  of  Labor  upon  the   other.     Tin- 
distinctive  features  of  these  two  ideas  are,  first,  the  or- 
ganization of  members  of  a  single  vocation.     The  under 
lying  principle  of  such  associations  is  that  men  who  think 
alike  should   act  together.     This  has  been  the  funda- 
mental principle  or  basis  of  all  organization,  civil  and 
political  as  well  as  industrial  and  professional.     Trad< 
unionism  in  England  and  in  this  country  is  based  upon 
this  idea,  and  it  seems  to  be  the  stronger  basis,  so  far  as 
the  experience  of  labor  organizations  is  concerned. 

The  principle  which  underlies  the  second  idea  is  that 
which  ignores  vocation  and  seeks  to  harmonize  all  indi- 
vidual or  separate  interests  in  the  interests  of  the  whole. 
This  is  the  basis  of  society,  but  it  has  not  been  applied  to 
labor  organizations  to  any  extent  until  within  tin-  past 
fifty  or  sixty  years.  Since  1830  there  have  been  several 
attempts  in  France,  and  in  some  other  continental  conn- 
tries,  to  bring  all  workingmen,  whether  of  one  nation  or 
of  many,  into  harmonious  association,  each  member  e\  er) 
where  seeking  the  good  of  the  whole.  The  principal  in- 
stance of  a  labor  organization  based  upon  this  broad 
principle  was  the  International  Association  ofWorking- 
men,  popularly  known  as  the  "International,"  organ 
ized    in    London  in   1864.     This  association  sought    to 


246      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Knights  of 
Labor. 


Uriah  S. 
Stephens  the 
founder,  1869. 


bring  workingmen,  wherever  manufacturing  had  gained 
any  notable  foothold,  into  one  society  ;  and  it  grew  for 
a  while,  but  never  at  any  time  had  it  a  membership  ex- 
ceeding one  hundred  thousand.  It  did  not  extend  to  the 
United  States  with  sufficient  force  to  involve  any  large 
number  of  workingmen  in  this  country,  and  not  until 
1870  or  1 87 1  were  there  any  branches  of  it  organized 
here.  The  part  which  the  "International"  played  in 
the  struggles  in  Paris  in  1871  killed  it  for  America,  and 
practically  killed  the  society  itself.  It  had  a  stormy  ex- 
istence, and  was  wrecked  finally  by  its  being  taken  under 
the  control  of  the  radical  socialists  of  Europe.  It  sowed 
some  seed,  principally  through  its  broad  foundation,  and 
not  through  its  practices. 

The  second  great  attempt  to  organize  labor  on  this 
broad  basis,  that  is,  as  broad  as  society  itself,  in  which  all 
parts  should  be  recognized,  was  the  Noble  Order  of 
Knights  of  Labor,  which  organization  was  born  on 
Thanksgiving  Day,  1869,  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 
and  was  the  result  of  the  efforts  of  Uriah  S.  Stephens,  as 
the  leader,  and  six  associates.  They  were  all  garment- 
cutters.  For  several  years  previous  to  this  date  the  gar- 
ment-cutters of  Philadelphia  had  been  organized  as  a 
trades  union,  but  had  failed  to  obtain  satisfactory  rates  of 
wages  in  their  trade.  Dissatisfaction  prevailed,  and  in 
the  fall  of  1869  the  union  was  disbanded  ;  but  Stephens, 
foreseeing  this  result,  had,  by  himself,  prepared  the  out- 
line of  a  plan  for  an  organization  which  should  embrace 
all  branches  of  honorable  toil,  and  which,  based  upon 
education,  through  cooperation  and  an  intelligent  use  of 
the  ballot,  should  gradually  abolish  the  present  wage 
system.  Mr.  Stephens  was  a  Free  Mason,  and  he 
brought  into  the  ritual  of  the  new  order  many  Masonic 
features,   especially  those    relating    to    forms  and   cere- 


Labor  Organizations.  247 


monies.      The  obligations  were   in  the  nature   of  oaths, 
taken  with  all  solemnity  upon  the  Bible.     The  members 
were  sworn  to  the  strictest  secrecy.      The  name  of  the 
order  was  not  to  be  divulged,  and  it  was  for  a  long  time 
referred  to  in  the  literature  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  in 
their  circulars,   meetings,   reports,   and  conversation,  as 
"Five  Stars,"  five  stars  being  used  in  all  printing  and   Laj»rk^>wn 
writing  to  designate  the  name  of  the  order.      Many  clas-   Stare. "* 
sical  expressions  were  taken  from  the  Greek  and  intro- 
duced into  the  ritual.      The  instructions  given   to  every  £fflff"  °" 
person  admitted  to  the  order  are  as  follows  : 

Labor  is  noble  and  holy.  To  defend  it  from  degradation  ;  to 
divest  it  of  the  evils  to  body,  mind,  and  estate  which  ignorance 
and  greed  have  imposed  ;  to  rescue  the  toiler  from  the  grasp  of 
the  selfish — is  a  work  worthy  of  the  noblest  and  best  of  our 
race.  In  all  the  multifarious  branches  of  trade,  capital  lias  its 
combinations ;  and,  whether  intended  or  not,  they  crush  the 
manly  hopes  of  labor,  and  trample  poor  humanity  in  the  dust. 
We  mean  no  conflict  with  legitimate  enterprise,  no  antagonism 
to  necessary  capital  ;  but  men,  in  their  haste  and  greed,  blinded 
by  self-interests,  overlook  the  interests  of  others,  and  some- 
times violate  the  rights  of  those  they  deem  helpless.  We  mean 
to  uphold  the  dignity  of  labor,  to  affirm  the  nobility  of  all  who 
earn  their  bread  by  the  sweat  of  their  brows.  We  mean  to 
create  a  healthy  public  opinion  on  the  subject  of  labor  (tin- 
only  creator  of  values),  and  the  justice  of  its  receiving  a  full, 
just  share  of  the  values  or  capital  it  has  created.  We  shall, 
with  all  our  strength,  support  laws  made  to  harmonize  the  in- 
terests of  labor  and  capital,  and  also  those  laws  which  tend  to 
lighten  the  exhaustiveness  of  toil.  To  pause-  in  his  toil,  to  de- 
vote to  his  own  interests  (sic),  to  gather  a  knowledge  of  the 
world's  commerce,  to  unite,  combine,  and  cooperate  in  the 
great  army  of  peace  and  industry,  to  nourish  and  cherish,  build 
and  develop,  the  temple  he  lives  in,  is  the  highest  and  noblest 
duty  of  man  to  himself,  to  his  fellow-man,  and  to  his  Creator. 

No  details  or  general  laws  for  the  government  of  the   No  general 
order  appear  to  have  been  adopted  until  tin-  formation  of 


Increase  in 
number  of  local 
assemblies. 


Growth  of 
Knights  of 
Labor. 


Present  mem- 
bership esti- 
mated. 


Intellectual 
history  of  the 
Knights  of 
Labor. 


248      Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 

the  first  Local  Assembly  in  1873  ;  but  the  plan  presented 
at  the  meeting  in  November,  1869,  was  heartily  ap- 
proved, and  adopted  by  Mr.  Stephens'  associates.  Local 
assemblies  began  to  increase  and  the  order  grew  apace, 
and  although  by  the  first  quarterly  report  it  is  shown 
that  it  had  a  membership  of  but  twenty-eight,  it  num- 
bered at  one  time  nearly  one  million  members.  The 
order  consists  of  Local  and  District  Assemblies  and  a 
General  Convention  of  Delegates.  The  history  of  the 
order  in  its  details  is  an  interesting  one,  and  shows  the 
usual  ups  and  downs  of  labor  organizations.  Religious 
prejudices  grew  in  it,  and  finally  its  work  was  modified. 
The  degree  work  as  it  was  patterned  after  the  Masonic 
ritual  is  not  now  known  in  the  Knights  of  Labor,  there 
being  no  degrees,  in  the  sense  of  secret  organization. 

The  growth  of  the  order  was  exceedingly  rapid,  so 
rapid  that  the  Executive  Board  felt  constrained  at  one 
time  to  call  a  halt  in  the  initiation  of  new  members.  Its 
accessions  were  nearly  400,000  in  one  year.  Mr.  Pow- 
derly,  in  his  testimony  before  the  Strike  Investigating 
Committee  of  Congress  April  21,  1886,  stated  as  follows  : 
"Our  present  membership  does  not  exceed  500,000, 
although  we  have  been  credited  with  5,000,000. ' '  From 
various  causes  it  has,  during  the  last  three  or  four  years, 
suffered  a  decrease  in  membership,  and  now  its  member- 
ship is  estimated  at  about  150,000.  The  order  is  repre- 
sented in  nearly  every  state  by  its  local  and  district 
assemblies. 

The  intellectual  history  of  the  order  is  of  far  more  im- 
portance to  the  public  than  its  material  history,  and  is  to 
be  found  in  its  declaration  of  principles,  its  constitution, 
and  its  legislation.  Prior  to  1878  no  declaration  of  prin- 
ciples had  been  made.  The  unwritten  law  of  the  order 
was  observed,  the  membership  being  small  and  the  local 


Labor  Organizations.  249 


and  district  assemblies  few  ;  but  as  it  grew  in  numb  rs 
and  its  influence  extended  over  vast  areas,  written  laws 
and  written  declarations  became  not  only  essential  for  the 
welfare  of  the  order,  but  a  necessity  for  its  working.  Prior 
to  the  abandonment  of  the  secrecy  of  the  workings  of  the 
order — that  is,  in  1881,  when  the  oath-bound  obligations 
were  abolished  and  the  simple  pledge  took  its  place — a 
declaration  of  principles  had  been  adopted.  This  declara- 
tion of  principles  was  adopted  at  the  meeting  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  in  Reading,  Pa.,  January,  1878.  Various 
additions  have  been  made  to  this  declaration  from  time  to 
time,  so  that  the  Knights  of  Labor  now  stand  upon  a 
declaration  of  principles  which,  with  a  preamble,  contains 
the  basis  of  the  working  of  the  order.  In  the  preamble, 
after  referring  to  what  is  called  ' '  the  alarming  develop- 
ment and  aggressiveness  of  the  power  of  money  and  cor-  Deciat 
porations  under  the  present  industrial  and  political  sys-   the  Knights 


terns,"  and  that  such  development  "will  inevitably  lead 
to  the  hopeless  degradation  of  the  people,"  the  Knights 
declare  that  their  body  is  not  a  political  party,  but  that  it 
is  more,  for  in  it  are  crystallized  sentiments  and  measures 
for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  body  politic.  The  declara- 
tion of  principles  calls  upon  all  who  believe  in  securing 
the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number  to  join  in  help 
ing  the  Knights  of  Labor  to  make  industrial  and  moral 
worth,  not  wealth,  the  true  standard  of  individual  and 
national  greatness. 

Their  aim  is  to  secure  to  the  workers  of  society  the 
fullest  enjoyment  of  the  wealth  they  create  ;  leisure  for 
the  development  of  their  intellectual,  moral,  and  social 
faculties,  and  all  the  benefits,  recreations,  and  pleasures 
of  association — in  a  word,  they  declare  themselves  ready 
to  join  in  any  movement  which  will  enable  them  to  share 
in  the  gains  and  honor  of  advancing  civilization.     In  01 


of  I. .it" 11  . 


General  aim. 


250       Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Demands. 


Measuiej 
favored  by 
Knights  of 
Labor. 


der  to  secure  these  results  they  demand  at  the  hands  of 
the  lawmaking  power  of  municipality,  state,  and  nation  the 
establishment  of  the  Referendum  in  the  making  of  laws  ; 
the  creation  of  bureaus  of  labor  for  the  collection  of  infor- 
mation ;  that  the  land,  including  all  the  natural  sources  of 
wealth,  being  the  heritage  of  all  the  people,  should  not  be 
subject  to  speculative  traffic  ;  that  taxes  upon  land  should 
be  levied  upon  its  full  value  for  use,  exclusive  of  improve- 
ments, and  that  the  community  should  be  entitled  to  all 
unearned  increment  ;  the  abrogation  of  all  laws  that  do 
not  bear  equally  upon  capitalists  and  laborers,  and  the 
adoption  of  measures  providing  for  the  health  and  safety 
of  those  engaged  in  mining,  manufacturing,  and  building 
industries.  They  also  declare  that  there  should  be  proper 
indemnification  for  injuries  received  through  lack  of  the 
necessary  safeguards.  The  incorporation  of  labor  organi- 
zations should,  in  the  opinion  of  the  order,  be  recognized, 
and  laws  should  be  enacted  providing  for  weekly  payment 
of  wages.  They  also  take  up  the  old  and  earliest  claim 
under  the  labor  movement  in  this  country,  that  mechanics 
and  laborers  should  have  a  first  lien  upon  the  product  of 
their  labor  to  the  extent  of  their  full  wages. 

The  order  is  opposed  to  the  contract  system  on  na- 
tional, state,  and  municipal  work,  and  in  favor  of  the 
enactment  of  laws  providing  for  arbitration  between  em- 
ployers and  employed  and  the  enforcement  of  the  de- 
cision of  the  arbitrators.  In  their  conventions,  however, 
the  arguments  have  been,  in  many  instances,  against 
this  declaration.  They  also  favor  the  compulsory  at- 
tendance at  school  of  children  between  the  ages  of  seven 
and  fifteen  years  and  the  furnishing  of  text-books  by 
the  state  free  of  charge.  They  also  favor  a  graduated 
tax  on  incomes  and  inheritances.  They  are  opposed  to 
the  hiring  out  of  convict  labor.      They  have  a  financial 


Labor   Organizations.  251 

plank  demanding  the  establishment  of  a  national  mone- 
tary system,  in  which  a  circulating  medium  in  necessarv 
quantity  shall  issue  directly  to  the  people,  without  the 
intervention  of  banks;    they   are  opposed  to  interest-    Measnrea 

opposed  by  the 

bearing  bonds,  bills  of  credit  or  notes,  but  would  pro-  ■■ 
vide  that,  when  need  arises,  the  emergency  shall  be  met 
by  the  issue  of  legal-tender,  non-interest-bearing  money  ; 
they  are  also  opposed  to  the  importation  of  foreign  labor 
under  contract ;  they  are  in  favor  of  a  postal  savings 
bank,  and  they  go  to  the  extent  of  declaring  that  the 
government  ought  to  obtain  possession,  under  the  right 
of  eminent  domain,  of  all  telegraphs,  telephones,  and 
railroads.  In  closing  their  declaration,  they  pledge 
themselves  to  associate  their  labors  in  establishing  co- 
operative institutions,  such  as  will  tend  to  supersede  the 
wage  system  ;  to  secure  for  both  sexes  equal  rights  ;  to 
gain  some  of  the  benefits  of  labor-saving  machinery  by 
a  gradual  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor  to  eight  hours 
per  day  ;  to  persuade  employers  to  agree  to  arbitrate  all 
differences  which  may  arise  between  them  and  their  em- 
ployees, in  order,  as  they  state  in  closing,  that  the  bonds 
of  sympathy  between  them  may  be  strengthened  and 
that  strikes  may  be  rendered  unnecessary. 

The  order  has  a  systematic  and  methodical  constitu-  Constilulion 
tion,  which  consists  of  thirteen  articles  and  is  much  like 
the  constitutions  of  all  organizations,  except  that  it  is 
quite  elaborate.  The  motto  of  the  order  is,  "That  is 
the  most  perfect  government  in  which  an  injury  to  one 
is  the  concern  of  all." 

From  the  formation  of  the  General  Assembly  (which    Attltudeofth« 
consists   of  delegates  from  district    assemblies)  in    1878   ^.XV'.i.'i'. 
up  to  1883  there  was  a  strong  element  in  the  order  in 
favor  of  supporting  strikes,  and  strike  funds  were  raised 
V  a  tax  on  the  members.     At  the  same  time,  the  more 


strikes. 


252       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 

advanced  thinkers  in  the  order  were  trying  to  educate 
the  members  to  use  every  means  for  the  settlement  of 
difficulties,  and  so  far  succeeded  that  at  the  Cincinnati 
session,  in  1883,  the  strike  laws  of  the  order  were  made 
so  rigid  that  they  practically  amounted  to  a  prohibition  of 
strikes,  so  far  as  the  support  of  the  order  was  concerned. 
The  laws  now  in  force  do  not  permit  the  support  of  a 
strike  by  the  whole  order. 

The  literature  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  is  not  ex- 
Literature  of       tensive.     The   Journal  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  is  the 

the  order.  u  J  a  J 

official  organ  of  the  order.  The  first  number  of  this 
journal,  under  the  name  of  the  Journal  of  United  Labor, 
was  issued  May  15,  1880,  and  was  published  monthly. 
It  is  now  a  weekly  journal. 

The  real  growth  of  the  order  may  be  said  to  date 
from  the  Detroit  session  of  1881,  when  the  strict  secrecy 
of  the  order  was  abolished  and  it  was  declared  that  its 
name  and  objects  should  henceforth  be  made  public* 


*  For  an  extended  historical  sketch  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  see  Quarterly 
Journal  of  Economics  for  January,  1887,  article  by  the  author. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

labor  organizations   (Concluded'). 
The  "American  Federation  of  Labor"  is,  as  its  name 

•  r  r      i  r  •  if  •  Am<  ' 

signifies,  a  federation  of  minor  bodies  or  organizations.  Federation 
It  grew  out  of  a  call,  issued  conjointly  by  the  "  Knights 
of  Industry"  and  a  society  known  as  the  "Amalga 
mated  Labor  Union"  (the  latter  being  an  offshoot  of 
the  Knights  of  Labor  and  composed  of  members  of  that 
order  who  had  become  somewhat  dissatisfied  with  it  . 
for  a  convention  to  meet  August  2,  1881,  at  Terre  Haute, 
Ind.  The  Knights  of  Industry  was  a  society  whose 
membership  was  from  the  states  of  Illinois  and  Missouri. 
The  membership  of  the  Amalgamated  Labor  Union, 
which  was  organized  in  1878,  was  from  Indiana  and 
Ohio.  The  object  of  the  convention  was  to  supplant, 
with  a  new  and  secret  order,  the  Knights  of  Labor.  The 
largest  constituency  of  this  preliminary  convention  was. 
however,  trades  union  in  its  character,  and  they  were 
opposed  to  increasing  the  number  of  labor  societies  then 
existing  ;  so  the  suggested  secret  organization  was  not 
effected.  Another  call  was  made,  however,  and  a  con- 
vention was  held  in  the  city  of  Pittsburg  November  [9,  1.. 
1881.  The  call  for  this  convention  had  in  it  the  follow- 
ing statement  : 

We  have  numberless  trades  unions,   trades   assemblies,    or 
councils,  Knights  of  Labor,  and  various  other  local,  national, 
and  international  labor  anions,  all  engaged  in  the  noble  task  of 
elevating  and  improving  the  condition  <>f  the  working  class 
But  great  as  has  been  the  work  done  by  these  bodies,  there  is 

253 


254       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


Date  of  organ i 
zation  under 
present  name. 


vastly  more  that  can  be  done  by  a  combination  of  all  these  or- 
ganizations in  a  federation  of  trades  and  labor  unions. 

The  convention  represented  262,000  workingmen,  who 
sent  to  it  107  delegates,  the  result  of  their  deliberations 
being  a  permanent  organization  under  the  name  and 
style  of  the  "Federation  of  Organized  Trades  and 
Labor  Unions  of  the  United  States  and  Canada."  * 

The  American  Federation  of  Labor,  under  its  present 
name  and  in  its  present  form,  was  organized  December 
8,  1886,  at  Columbus,  O.  Two  years  later  it  was  de- 
cided that  as  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  was  the 
direct  outgrowth  of  and  the  successor  to  the  federation 
formed  in  1881  at  Pittsburg,  the  conventions  of  the 
American  Federation  should  date  from  that  year. 

The  Terre  Haute  convention  was  the  preliminary 
step,  however,  which  led  to  the  organization.  Prior  to 
1 88 1  there  had  been  several  attempts  to  organize  a 
national  union  which  should  represent,  in  a  federated 
form,  the  various  trades  unions,  national  and  inter- 
national, existing  in  the  United  States,  the  first  of  these 
attempts  taking  place  early  in  the  year  1866,  when  the 
trades  assemblies  of  New  York  City  and  Baltimore  issued 
a  call  for  a  national  labor  congress,  which  resulted  in  a 
convention  of  one  hundred  delegates,  representing  some 
sixty  open  and  secret  organizations,  the  delegates  com- 
ing from  all  parts  of  the  Union.  The  convention  met 
August  20.  A  second  convention  was  held  in  Chicago 
its  general  aim.  the  following  year.  The  aim  was  to  imitate  the  Trades- 
Union  Congress  of  England,  in  which  local  bodies,  not 
allowed  to  discuss  politics  in  their  meetings,  could  send 
delegates  to  the  central  body  and  there  deal  with  ques- 


Preliminary 
steps. 


*  For  an  extended  account  of  the  organization  of  the  American  Federation 
of  Labor,  its  history  and  aims,  see  chapter  bv  P.J.  McGuire  in  pamphlet  en- 
titled "  Trades  Unions,"  by  William  Trant,  published  by  the  American  Feder- 
ation of  Labor,  New  York,  [888, 


Labor  Organizations. 


'^ 


tions  of  a  political  nature,   and  thus  influence  national 
legislation  in  favor  of  the  working-  classi 

In  1868  the  National  Labor  Union  held  two  conven-    N 
tions,  one  in   May  and  the  other  in  September,  and  in   ' '"'""• lS 
1869  it  held  a  meeting  in  Chicago.      In    1870  it  met  in 
Boston,  in  1871  in  Philadelphia,  and  in  1872  at   Colum- 
bus, O.     The  latter  was  the  last  convention  of  the   Na 
tional  Labor  Union. 

Many  trades  unions  went  under  in  1873.  owing;  to  the    Effected 

.  depression "' 

industrial  depression.       There  was  nothing  in  them    par- 
ticularly to  hold  members  together. 

Several  of  the  leading  trades-unionists  of  tin-  country 
called  an  "Industrial  Congress"  to  meet  in  Rochester 
in  April,  1874,  and  on  the  14th  of  that  month  a  con- 
vention was  held,  representing  a  secret  organization 
then  known  as  the  "  Sovereigns  of  Industry."  The  in- 
tention was  to  take  up  the  old  work  of  the  National 
Labor  Union.  The  "  Industrial  Brotherhood  of  tin- 
United  States,"  another  secret  order,  partaking  largely  of 
the  character  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  took  part  in  this 
convention.  The  natural  consequence  was  that  the  two 
interests,  that  is  to  say,  the  two  ideas,  that  on  which  the 
Knights  of  Labor  was  organized  and  the  trades-union 
idea,  as  already  described,  became  antagonistic  ;  yet  a 
platform  which  adopted  most  of  the  declaration  of  prin- 
ciples of  the  Knights  of  Labor  was  framed.  Tin-  inten 
tion  of  the  convention  was  not  carried  out,  however,  the 
movement  ending  with  the   Rochester  meeting.       Other 

attempts  were  made  in    1875   and    [876,  but   they   were   attempts  at 
,  ,  .      ,  ,  .  ,    .         ,     ■  e.  ■      1    federation. 

largely  political,  and  having  engaged   in   their  political 
work,    the  temporary  orders   were   verj    naturally  dis- 
banded.    The  other  years  prior  to  1881,  when  the  Fed 
eration  of  Organized  Trades  and   Labor  Unions  ol  the 

*  Chapter  by  P.  J.  McGuire,  already  referred  to. 


256       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


United  States  and  Canada  was  created,  witnessed  at- 
tempts at  federation,  but  they  were  ephemeral  in  their 
nature. 

The  permanent  organization  effected  at  Pittsburg  No- 
organization,       vember  19,  1 88 1,  under  the  call  which  has  been  cited, 

1 88 1 

adopted  a  platform  more  comprehensive  than  that  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor,  although  not  essentially  differing 
therefrom.  It  demanded  eight  hours  as  a  day's  work  ; 
called  for  national  and  state  incorporation  of  trades 
unions  ;  favored  obligatory  education  of  all  children  and 
the  prohibition  of  their  employment  under  the  age  of 
fourteen  ;  also  favored  the  enactment  of  uniform  appren- 
tice laws  ;  opposed  bitterly  all  contract  convict  labor  and 
the  truck  system  for  payment  of  wages  ;  demanded  laws 
giving  to  workingmen  a  first  lien  on  property  upon  which 
their  labor  had  been  expended;  insisted  upon  the  abroga- 
tion of  all  so-called  conspiracy  laws  ;  advocated  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  national  bureau  of  labor  statistics  ;  urged 
the  prohibition  of  the  importation  of  foreign  labor  ;  op- 
posed government  contracts  on  public  work  ;  favored  the 
adoption  by  states  of  an  employers'  liability  act,  and  urged 
all  labor  bodies  to  vote  only  for  labor  legislators. 

With  the  first  convention  at  Pittsburg  the  new  order 
Cleveland  man-  seemed  to  take  on  life  and  vigorously  prosecuted  its  work. 
American  Fed-  At  its  second  convention,  which  was  held  in  Cleveland,  O. , 
Labor"0  November  21,  1882,  the  organization  took  steps  to  pre- 

vent the  recurrence  of  the  fate  of  its  predecessors  and 
issued  a  manifesto  discountenancing  political  action,  tak- 
ing the  ground  that  the  federation  had  been  organized  as 
a  purely  industrial  body  and  should  so  continue.  This 
manifesto  is  worthy  of  preservation  in  any  history  of  the 
labor  movement,  and  is  as  follows  : 

We  favor  this  federation  because  it  is  the  most  natural  and 
assimilative    form    of   bringing   the   trades   and    labor   unions 


Labor  Organizations.  257 


together.     It  preserves  the  industrial  autonomy  and  distinctive 

character  of  each  trade  and  labor  union,  and,  without  doing  vio- 
lence to  their  faith  or  traditions,  blends  them  all  in  one  harmo- 
nious whole — a  "federation  of  tracks  and  labor  unions."  Such  a 
body  looks  to  the  organization  of  the  working  classes  as  workers, 
andnotas  "soldiers"  (in  the  present  deprecatory  sense)  or  pol- 
iticians. It  makes  the  qualities  of  a  man  as  a  worker  tin-  only 
test  of  fitness,  and  sets  up  no  political  or  religious  test  of  mem- 
bership. It  strives  for  the  unification  of  all  labor,  not  by  strain- 
ing at  an  enforced  union  of  diverse  thought  and  widely  separated 
methods,  not  by  prescribing  a  uniform  plan  of  organization,  re- 
gardless of  their  experience  or  interests  ;  not  by  antagonizing  of 
destroying  existing  organizations,  but  by  preserving  all  that  is 
integral  or  good  in  them  and  by  widening  their  scope  so  that 
each,  without  destroying  their  individual  character,  may  act 
together  in  all  that  concerns  them.  The  open  trades  unions,  na- 
tional and  international,  can  and  ought  to  work  side  by  side  with 
the  Knights  of  Labor,  and  this  would  be  the  case  were  it  n<  >t  f<  ir 
men  either  overzealous  or  ambitious,  who  busy  themselves  in 
attempting  the  destruction  of  existing  unions  to  serve  their  own 
whims  and  mad  iconoclasm.  This  should  cease  and  each  sin  mid 
understand  its  proper  place  and  work  in  that  sphere,  and  if  th<  v 
desire  to  come  under  one  head  or  affiliate  their  affairs,  then  let 
all  trades  and  labor  societies,  secret  or  public,  be  represented  in 
the  Federation  of  Trades  and  Labor  Unions. 

During-  the  next  few  years  the  new  order  had  many    Frictloi, 
ugly  questions  to  deal  with.    At  an  early  date  consideral  >le    jggjjjjjj6 
friction  was    created    between  the  federation  and   the   :,'"l',l,kr'"K'usof 
Knights  of  Labor,  and  the  attempts  to  include  socialism 
and  the  doctrines  of  anarchists  occupied  a  good  dealol  its 
attention  and  thought. 

The  order  had  a  constitution  from  the  start,  but  at  its 

Convention  in  Baltimore,   December   16,    1SS7,    it  adopted     Adoption 

■  onstii  utn 

a  revised  constitution,  under  the  name  of  the  American    theAmeri 

Federation  "i 

Federation  of  Labor,  by  which  it  is  now  known.      1  In-    Labor. 
preamble  of  that  constitution  is  as  follows  : 

Whereas,  A  struggle  is  going  on  in  all  the  nations  of  the 
civilized  world,  between  the  oppressors  and  the  oppressed  of 


258      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Federation  not 
a  secret  order. 


Affiliated 
orders. 


all  countries,  a  struggle  between  the  capitalist  and  the  laborer, 
which  grows  in  intensity  from  year  to  year,  and  will  work  dis- 
astrous results  to  the  toiling  millions,  if  they  are  not  combined 
for  mutual  protection  and  benefit. 

It  therefore  behooves  the  representatives  of  the  trades  and 
labor  unions  of  America,  in  convention  assembled,  to  adopt 
such  measures  and  disseminate  such  principles  among  the  me- 
chanics and  laborers  of  our  country  as  will  permanently  unite 
them,  to  secure  the  recognition  of  the  rights  to  which  they  are 
justly  entitled. 

We  therefore  declare  ourselves  in  favor  of  the  formation  of  a 
thorough  federation,  embracing  every  trade  and  labor  organ- 
ization in  America,  under  the  trades-union  system  of  organiza- 
tion. 

The  federation  is  in  no  sense  a  secret  order,  nor  is  it 
an  order  which  claims  the  individual  allegiance  of  mem- 
bers, its  membership  consisting  of  national  and  inter- 
national trades  unions  or  societies  represented  in  it.  It 
is  therefore  a  purely  democratic  and  representative  or- 
ganization. It  is  a  federation  composed  of  the  leading 
trades  unions  of  the  country.  Affiliated  with  it  are  the 
older  and  more  influential  bodies,  such  as  the  Interna- 
tional Typographical  Union,  the  Amalgamated  Associa- 
tion of  Iron  and  Steel  Workers,  the  United  Mine 
Workers,  the  Cigar- Makers'  International  Union  of 
America,  the  Brotherhood  of  Carpenters  and  Joiners, 
etc.,   etc.* 


*  The  register  of  the  principal  national  trades  unions  of  the  United  States 
comprises  the  following  orders :  American  Agents'  Association,  Journey- 
men Bakers'  National  Union,  Journeymen  Barbers'  International  Union  of 
America,  Blacksmiths'  National  Union,  Boiler-makers  and  Iron  Ship-builders, 
International  Brotherhood  of  Brass  Workers,  Brewery  Workmen's  National 
Union,  International  Bricklayers  and  Stonemasons'  Union,  International 
Broommakers'  Union,  Butchers'  National  Protective  Association,  Brother- 
hood of  Carpenters  and  Joiners  of  America,  Amalgamated  Society  of  Carpen- 
ters and  Joiners,  Carriage  and  Wagonworkers'  International  Union,  Cigar- 
makers'  International  Union  of  America,  United  Mine  Workers  of  America, 
Coopers'  International  Union  of  North  America ,  Orders  of  Railway  Conductors, 
National  Brotherhood  of  Electrical  Workers,  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive 
Engineers,  Brotherhood  of  Stationary  Engineers,  United  Order  of  Engineers, 
Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Firemen,  International  Furniture  Workers'  Union 
of  America,  Furriers'  Union  of  United  States  of  America  and  Canada,  United 
Garment  Workers  of  America,  Glass  Employees'  Association  of  America.  The 
United  Green  Glass  Workers  of  United  States  and  Canada,  Table  Knife  Grind- 


Labor  Organizations.  259 

As  the  constitution  of  the  federation  provides,  its  ob     objects  of  the 
ject  is  the  encouragement  and  formation  of  local  trades   fed*raUon- 
and  labor  unions  and  the  closer  federation  of  such  soci- 
eties,   through    the   organization  of  central  trades  and 
labor  unions,  in  every  state,  and  the  further  combination 
of  such  bodies  into  state,  territorial,  or  provincial  organ- 
izations, to  the  end  that  legislation  in  the  interests  of  the 
working  masses  may  be  secured.     The  Knights  of  Labor, 
it  will  be  remembered,  is  an  order  composed  of  local  and 
district  assemblies  of  its  own,  and  while  the  local  assem- 
blies may  and  do  represent  different  trades  and  callings 
in  life,  they  are  nevertheless  bound  by  one  uniform  sys-    Differs  from 
tern  of  laws  and  regulations,  their  ritual  and  proceedings   f"l^,'' 
being   the   same   throughout    the    country  j    while    the   1/l1""'- 

ers'  National  Union,  Pen  and  Pocket  Knife  Grinders  ami   Finishers'  National 
Union,  Granite  Cutters'  National  Union,  Hat   Finishers'  International  Asso 
tion  of  North   America,  Hatmakers1   International   Union  ol  North  America, 
Silk  Hatters' Association  of  North  America,  Wool  Hatters' Association,  Saddle 
and  Harness  Makers'  National  Union,  International  Journeymen  II 
of  United   States  and  Canada,  Horse-collar   Makers'    National    Union,   Iron- 
molders'  Union  of  North  America,  Sheet  Iron  and  Cornice  Workers'  Interna- 
tional Union,  Amalgamated  Association  of  Iron  and   Steel  Workers,  Spring 
Knife   Makers'    National    Protective   Union   of   America,    Building    Lab 
International  Protective  Union  of  North   America,  National   Longshoremen's 
Association  of  the  United  States,  Machinists  International  Union,  International 
Association  of    Machinists,    Musicians'    Mutual     League,    National    Pattern- 
makers' League,  Brotherhood  of  Painters  and   Decorators  of  America.  United 
Piano-makers,  Operative  Plasterers'  International    Association,  Journeymen 
Plumhers  and  Gas  and  Steam  Fitters  of  United  States,  Metal  Polishers,  Bui 
and  Platers'  Union  of  North  America,  Potters'  National  Union,  United  Brother- 
hood of  Paper-makers,  International  Typographical  Union,  German-American 
Typographia,  Quarrymen's  National  Union  of  America,  Steam  Railroadmen's 
Union,  Amalgamated  Association  of  Street   Railway  Employees  ol   Ami 
Brotherhood  of  Railway  Shopmen,  Retail  Clerks'  National  Protectivi  As 
tion,  National  Seamen's  Union  of  America,  I. asters'  Protective  Union,  Boot  ami 
Shoe  Workers'   International  Union,   National   Federation  of  Silk  Workers, 
National  Cotton  Mule  Spinners'   Association  of  America,  Journeymen  Stone 
( 'utters,  Stove  Mounters'  International  Union,  Switchmen's  Mutual  Aid  A 
ation,  Brotherhood  of  Railroad  Trainmen,  Tack-makers'  Protective  Union  of 
United  States  and  Canada,  Journeymen  Taiiors' Uni 
Brotherhood  of  Tanners  and  Curriers  of  America,  Mosaic  ami  Encaustii    I 
layers'   National  Union,    Railway   Telegraphers,   Commercial    Telegraphers, 
National  Union  of  Textile  Workers  of  Amem  a,  Brotherhood  ol  Railroad  I  i 
men,  Hardwood   Furniture   and    Piano  Vamishers'    International   l  nion   ol 
America,  Hotel  and   Restaurant  Employees'    National   Alliance.  Elastii    Web 
Weavers'  Amalgamated   Association,  Machine  Woodworkers'   International 

Union  of  A m el  i.  a,  Woodcat  vets'  National  Union  ol    North  America,     'I'll is  1  i  — «. 

does  not  include  1,500  local  unions  affiliated  with  the  American  Federation  ol 
Labor,  and  several  thousand  other  unaffiliated  local  unions,  all  ol  which  have 

no  national  head.    A  few  of  these  unions  are  not   \'t   formerly  affiliated  with 
the  Federation  of  Labor,  vet  all  are  united  by  virtue  of  a  .  ommon  polity. 
Tribune  Almanac,  January,  1895. 


Estimated 
membership  of 
the  American 
Federation  of 
Labor. 


American  Rail- 
way Union. 

Date  of  organ- 
ization. 


260      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 

American  Federation  of  Labor  is  a  federation  of  various 
orders  dissimilar  in  their  methods  of  organization  and 
having  no  common  constitution  or  laws.  The  General 
Assembly  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  is  composed  of  dele- 
gates from  its  subordinate  branches,  and  the  annual 
national  convention  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
consists  of  delegates  from  its  affiliated  societies.  Each 
affiliated  society,  however,  has  its  own  government,  dis- 
tinct from  the  government  of  the  national  convention.  It 
has  no  power  to  order  strikes,  such  matters  being  left  to 
its  affiliated  societies.  It  is  advisory  in  such  matters,  but 
not  conclusive  in  its  action.  Its  prestige  comes  both 
from  itself  and  from  the  character  and  standing  of  some 
of  its  most  important  affiliations.  The  order  has  grown, 
numbering  over  500,000  members  at  the  present  time, 
and  is  in  a  flourishing  condition. 

The  American  Railway  Union  is  the  latest  organization 
where  the  founders  have  sought  to  bring  into  one  order 
a  large  body  of  employees.  It  was  organized  in  Chicago 
June  20,  1893,  and  now  numbers,  as  alleged,  about  150,- 
000  members.  It  differs  materially  from  the  Knights  of 
Labor  and  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  so  far  as 
its  integral  elements  are  concerned.  It  includes  all  rail- 
way employees  born  of  white  parents,  and  its  declaration 
of  principles  adopts  the  motto,  "  In  union  there  is 
strength,"  and  declares  that  conversely  without  union 
weakness  prevails.  The  union  was  organized  for  the  pro- 
tection of  members  in  all  matters  relatingto  wages  and  their 
rights  as  employees,  and  affirms  that  railway  employees 
;ue  entitled  to  a  voice  in  fixing  wages  and  in  determining 
conditions  of  employment.  In  its  organization  it  pro- 
vided for  various  departments  designed  to  promote  the 
welfare  of  the  membership  in  a  practical  way  and  by  prac- 
tical methods.      Among  other  things,  it  was  the  design  to 


Labor  Organizations.  261 

establish  an  employment  department,  in  which  the  name 
of  every  member  out  of  employment  could  be  registered  ; 
also  a  department  of  education,  contemplating  lectures 
upon  subjects  relating  to  economics,  such  as  wages,  ex- 
penses, the  relations  of  employer  to  employee,  strikes, 
their  moral  and  financial  aspects,  etc.  The  declaration 
also  provides  for  a  department  to  promote  legislation  in 
the  interest  of  labor  and  for  a  department  of  insurance. 

The  American  Railway  Union  is  composed  of  a  general  composition  of 
union  consisting  of  a  board  of  directors  and  local  unions  RaWay "union, 
instituted  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  general  order. 
The  order,  while  pledged  to  conservative  methods,  un- 
dertakes to  protect  the  humblest  of  its  members  in  every 
right  ;  but  while  it  pledges  itself  that  the  rights  of  its 
members  will  be  sacredly  guarded,  no  intemperate  de- 
mand or  unreasonable  propositions  will  be  entertained. 
It  started  with  the  belief  that  all  differences  may  be  satis- 
factorily adjusted  and  harmonious  relations  established 
and  maintained,  and  that  the  service  may  be  incalculably 
improved,  and  that  the  necessity  for  strike  and  lockout, 
boycott  and  blacklist,  which  the  declaration  of  principles 
declares  to  be  alike  disastrous  to  employer  and  employee 
and  a  perpetual  menace  to  the  welfare  of  the  public, 
ought  forever  to  disappear.  Its  general  convention  con- 
sists of  representatives  from  the  local  unions,  and  it  is  the 
policy  of  the  general  union  not  to  declare  strikes  of  its  fe^j°^ve 
own  motion,  but  to  refer  such  matters  to  the  particular 
class  affected.  Its  distinctive  feature  is  the  organization 
of  all  railway  employees  under  one  jurisdiction.  It  was 
the  first  attempt  to  accomplish  this.  The  Knights  of 
Labor  admits  all  classes  of  wage-workers,  but  it  cannot  in 
any  sense  be  considered  as  an  organization  of  railway  em- 
ployees, nor  have  any  great  number  of  such  employees, 
compared  with  the  whole  number,  ever  been  connected 


Lack  in  all 


262      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 

with  the  Knights  of  Labor.  The  American  Federation 
of  Labor  and  the  Knights  of  Labor  have  many  railway 
employees  connected  with  them,  but  neither  has  ever 
attempted  to  secure  a  national,  compact  organization  of 
all  classes  of  railway  employees.  There  have  been 
attempts  at  times  to  federate  certain  railway  organiza- 
tions, but  at  no  time  did  the  scope  of  the  federation 
proposed  or  effected  extend  beyond  the  employees 
engaged  in  the  train  service. 

In  the  constitutions  of  all  organizations,  so  far  as  they 

constitutions.  have  been  examined,  there  appears  to  be  a  great  lack  in 
this,  that  while  they  do  not  countenance  riots,  violence, 
intimidations,  etc. ,  they  do  not  provide  for  the  discipline 
of  their  members  when  guilty  of  such  acts. 

The  question  may  be  asked  :   "  To  what  extent  is  the 
labor  of  the  country  organized?"     This  question  can  be 

ganized  labor,  fairly  well  answered.  The  Knights  of  Labor,  with  150,- 
000  members  in  round  numbers  ;  the  American  Federa- 
tion of  Labor,  representing  500,000,  and  the  American 
Railway  Union,  representing  150,000,  make  a  total  mem- 
bership of  800,000.  There  are,  according  to  the  best 
estimates,  probably  600,000  more  connected  with  various 
local  organizations  not  affiliated  with  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor  nor  in  anyway  connected  with  any  of  its 
subordinate  orders,  the  Knights  of  Labor,  or  the  Ameri- 
can Railway  Union.  This  makes  a  total  of  1,400,000 
members  in  the  labor  organizations  of  the  country,  and 
these  are  to  be  found  mostly  in  the  manufacturing  and 
mechanical  industries.  In  such  industries  4,712,622  per- 
sons were  employed  in  1890.  The  regular  membership, 
therefore,  of  the  labor  unions  of  the  country  constitutes 
29.71  per  cent  of  the  whole  number  engaged  in  manufac- 
turing and  mechanical  industries.  These  statements 
should  not  be  accepted  as  accurate,  because  there  are  so 


Extent  of  or- 


Labor  Organizations.  263 

many  societies  of  workingmen  and  women  not  known  as 

trades  unions  in  any  sense,  societies  which  have  for  their   Organizations 

J  '  _  not  affiliated 

object  chiefly  some  beneficial  result  and  those  organized  ^r''h  larse 
for  social  and  educational  purposes,  taking  no  part  in  the 
great  labor  movement.  They  are,  however,  in  a  sense, 
labor  organizations,  but  do  not  undertake  to  influence 
legislation  or  attempt  the  regulation  of  wages  and  condi- 
tions of  employment. 

Labor  organizations  have  had  much  to  do  with  the  de- 
velopment of  industry,  the  legislation  which  relates  to 
labor,  and  the  establishment  of  some  very  deep  and  vital 
principles  affecting  not  only  labor  itself,  but  the  general 
welfare  of  the  public.  A  brief  account  of  labor  legisla- 
tion, therefore,  very  naturally  follows  the  account  of  labor 
organizations. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 


THE    BASIS    OF    LABOR    LEGISLATION. 


Not  of  like  im- 
portance in  all 
states. 


Regulation  in 
colonial  days. 


The  history  of  labor  legislation  in  the  United  States 
cannot  well  be  told  in  a  connected  form.  Some  states 
have  quite  elaborate  codes  ;  others  have  followed  in  some 
respects  and  have  ignored  all  legislation  in  other  direc- 
tions, while  some  of  our  states,  in  which  no  great  num- 
ber of  mechanical  industries  have  been  established,  have 
not  felt  the  necessity  of  placing  upon  their  statute  books 
any  laws  regulating  or  protecting  labor.  In  the  colonial 
days  labor  was  regulated  even  to  its  price,  and  the  con- 
stant attempt  to  fix  the  price  of  commodities  was 
a  part  of  the  general  system  of  colonial  legislation, 
following  therein  the  methods  of  the  mother-country. 
Trade  was  subjected  to  the  most  stringent  regulations. 
Since  colonial  days  the  removal  of  restrictions  upon  the 
interchange  of  commodities  has  been  the  rule,  yet, 
curiously  enough,  the  same  period  has  witnessed  much 
governmental  regulation  in  like  directions.  There  seems 
to  be  an  antagonism  in  these  statements,  yet  they  are 
true.  The  establishment  of  new  industries,  the  ramifi- 
cations reaching  in  various  directions,  the  congregation 
of  labor  in  industrial  centers — all  these  things  have  ne- 
cessitated interference  on  the  part  of  the  government 
with  individual  and  corporate  action,  while  a  truer  knowl- 
edge of  economics  has  convinced  states  that  they  cannot 
regulate  price  by  law.  So  the  apparent  contradiction  is 
true  in  fact.      As  one  class  of  restrictions  has  been  re 

264 


The  Basis  of  Labor  Legislation.  265 


moved  and  the  interchange  of  commodities  made  freer, 
other  restrictions  have  been  placed  upon  labor  and  the 
conditions  surrounding  it.      But  the  restrictions  of  colo- 
nial days  cannot,  in  a  modern  sense,  be  considered  labor  Such  restric- 
tions not 
legislation,  nor,  in  fact,  can  such  restrictions  be  classed  ".  labor  legisia- 

0  .  tion"  in  the 

as  labor  legislation  generally.  Of  course,  away  back  in  modem  sense, 
olden  times  the  laws  relating  to  apprentices,  etc.,  were 
strictly  labor  legislation,  and  some  English  regulations 
were  projected  into  the  legislation  of  the  colonies  ;  but 
the  legislation  which  particularly  belongs  to  the  devel- 
opment of  industry  only  is  that  which  needs  to  be  dealt 
with  at  the  present  time. 

In  order  to  give  the  best  idea  of  the  growth  of  what 

°  ...  Growth  of  labor 

maybe  properly  termed  "labor  legislation,"  its  devel-  legislation, 
opment  in  various  directions,  and  its  effect,  the  experi- 
ence of  a  single  state  will  suffice,  and  a  better  idea  of 
the  development  of  labor  laws  will  be  given  the  reader 
by  such  a  connected  history  of  one  state's  actions  ;  for 
this  purpose  the  labor  legislation  of  the  commonwealth 
of  Massachusetts  offers  the  best  illustration  of  what  has 
been  accomplished. 

The  establishment  of  the  factory  system,  the  story  of 
which  is  told  in  other  chapters,  brought  with   it  some  of  which  came 

...  i-i  1    •  1         -  •      1  r  with  factory 

the  conditions  which  entered  into  the  factory  industry  of  system. 
England  when  the  system  became  fixed  there,  and  in 
1802  England  inaugurated  a  system  of  laws  which  has 
had  its  influence  in  all  countries  where  the  factory  system 
has  taken  root.  The  English  factory  brought  into  it 
large  numbers  of  laborers  from  agricultural  sections. 
There  were  also  employed  many  women  and  children. 
These  employees  were  mostly  of  an  ignorant  class,  but 
their  ignorance  had  not  attracted  attention  because  of  its 
diffusion.  The  concentration  of  this  ignorant  class  in 
industrial  centers,  however,  brought  attention  to  condi- 


266       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


Crude  English 
act  of  1802. 


Questions 
which  fol- 
lowed congre- 
gated labor. 


First  factory 
act  largely 
inoperative. 


tions  and  enlisted  the  interest  and  the  sympathy  of  some 
of  the  leading  English  statesmen,  among  the  rest,  Sir 
Robert  Peel,  a  member  of  Parliament  and  a  great  textile 
manufacturer.  Through  his  exertions  a  crude  factory 
act  was  passed  in  1802,  and  from  that  day  to  the  present 
the  principles  involved  in  that  law  have  kept  the  English 
lawmaking  power  actively  employed,  until  statutory 
regulations  and  restrictions  have  been  extended  over 
nearly  every  trade  of  the  kingdom. 

When  the  consequences  of  congregated  labor,  working 
under  the  influence  of  simply  natural  forces,  without  the 
restrictions  of  positive  legislation,  were  observed  the 
great  questions  began  to  be  asked,  Has  the  nation  any 
right  to  interfere  ?  Shall  society  suffer  that  individuals 
may  profit  ?  Shall  the  next  and  succeeding  generations 
be  weakened  morally  and  intellectually  that  estates  may 
be  enlarged  ?  * 

Sir  Robert  Peel  was  the  first  man  to  ask  such  ques- 
tions of  Parliament.  His  efforts  dealt  simply  with  the 
regulation  of  the  employment  of  apprentices.  Under  its 
provisions  the  employer  was  compelled  to  clothe  his  ap- 
prentice, whose  work  was  limited  to  twelve  hours  a  day. 
Night  work  was  prohibited,  and  every  apprentice  was  to 
receive  daily  instruction  throughout  the  first  four  years  of 
his  time,  and  his  school  attendance  was  to  be  reckoned 
as  his  working  time.  There  were  many  other  regula- 
tions relating  to  instruction  on  Sundays,  and  useful  sani- 
tary clauses  were  contained  in  the  law.  It  proved  in- 
operative in  a  great  measure,  but  the  principle  was  estab- 
lished. The  arguments  against  the  enactment  of  Sir 
Robert  Peel's  bill  have  been  repeated  in  England  during 
all  subsequent  movements,  and  they  have  been  heard  in 
debate  in  every  session  of  every  legislature  in  the  United 

*  "  Reign  of  Law,"  Duke  of  Argyle,  page  348. 


The  Basis  of  Labor  Legislation.  267 


States  every  time  any  proposition  has  been  made  to  pro- 
tect labor. 

There  has  never  been  any  necessity  for  enacting  the 
elaborate  factory  code  of  England  as   it  now  stands  on   Conditions 

t_       1  1  1  ,•  •  here  not  the 

her  statute  books,    because  the  conditions  surrounding  same  as  in 

c  England. 

factory  labor  in  this  country  were  not  those  experienced 
in  England  ;  yet  the  long  hours  of  labor  in  the  earlier 
days  of  the  textile  factories  of  New  England  came  to  be 
considered  a  burden  upon  the  operatives,  and  so  it  was 
very  natural  that  the  first  attempts  to  secure  legislative 
restriction  related  to  working  hours. 

A  careful  examination  of  the  whole  subject  discloses  No  attempts  in 
no  particular  attempt  to  secure  any  enactments   in  this  states'prior  to 
country  prior  to  1831.      In  that  year  a  special  commis-   l831' 
sion  appointed  by  Governor  Lincoln   of  Massachusetts 
reported  upon  certain  features  of  bankruptcy  laws,  pro- 
posing the  abolition   of  imprisonment  for  debt,  and   in 
1834  an   act  abolishing  imprisonment  for  debt  was  ap- 
proved.     In    1836   Massachusetts  specifically  regulated 
the  instruction    of  youths    employed    in   manufacturing 
establishments,  and  from  that  date  until  1863  labor  legis- 
lation was  practically  confined  to  the  subjects  of  educa- 
tion of  children  employed  in   factories,  imprisonment  for 
debts,  liens,  and  various  special  acts  incorporating  me-   Fff  rt  m 
chanics'    institutes,    etc.,  etc.      In    1832    the   subject   of  Massachusetts. 
regulating  the  hours  of  labor  by  legislation  was  frequently 
agitated   and   was   the   subject    of    reports   by   various 
commissions  and  legislative  committees,   but,   strangely 
enough,   no  definite  action  was  taken   until    1874,  when 
what  is  known  as  the  ten-hour  law  was  passed.    This  law 
established  the  hours  of  labor  for  women  and  for  children 
under  eighteen  years  of  age  at  sixty  per  week.      The 
hours  of  labor  of  children  under  twelve  had  been  limited 
to  ten  per  day  as  early  as  1842,  and  the  Honorable  Horace 


views. 


of  hours. 


268       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 

Horace  Mann's  Mann,  in  his  report  on  education  for  1840,  took  very 
strong  ground  relative  to  the  necessity  of  limiting  in 
some  way  the  actions  of  employers  and  of  "unnatural 
parents"  in  securing  the  employment  of  children  in 
textile  factories.  In  all  probability  the  efforts  of  Mr. 
Mann  led  to  the  legislation  of  1842,  regulating  the  hours 
of  labor  of  children  under  twelve. 

Reduction  The  agitation  for  reduction  of  hours  of  labor  also  led  to 

the  ten-hour  plan  on  a  voluntary  basis  in  most  of  the  ship- 
building trades  in  the  commonwealth,  for  they  were  em- 
ployed on  that  basis  in  1844,  while  as  early  as  1853  many 
of  the  trades  were  working  but  ten  hours.  As  stated  in 
an  earlier  chapter  on  the  labor  movement,  President  Van 
Buren  issued  his  well-known  order  April  10,  1840,  "that 
all  public  establishments  will  hereafter  be  regulated,  as  to 
working  hours,  by  the  ten-hour  system."  However,  it 
cannot  be  said  that  the  movement  for  the  reduction  of  the 
hours  of  labor  progressed  with  any  persistency,  so  far  as 
time  was  concerned,  yet  it  gained  strength  from  year  to 
year,  fitful  as  it  was.  The  thread  is  wanting  to  make  a 
history  of  labor  legislation  thoroughly  harmonious. 
The  aggressive  agitation  may  be  said  to  have  com- 

l845-  menced  in   1845,  when  petitions  were  introduced  to  the 

legislature  (Massachusetts  is  meant  in  this  part  of  the  his- 
tory) praying  for  reduction  of  hours  of  labor  in  corpora- 
tions, eleven  hours  being  the  fixed  time  desired  in  that 
year  ;  but  the  legislative  committee  to  which  the  petitions 
were  referred  reported  against  the  petitioners.  The  rea- 
sons given  were  that  it  would  be  unjust  to  regulate  hours 
for  corporations,  when  private  individuals  would  be  free 
from  the  operations  of  such  a  law  ;  and  the  committee 
stated  its  belief  that  factory  labor  was  no  more  injurious 
than  other  kinds  ;  that  wages  would  necessarily  have  to  be 
reduced  if  such  a  law  was  passed,  and  that  other  states 


Agitation  of 


The  Basis  of  Labor  Legislation.  269 


would  distance  Massachusetts  in  the  markets  of  the-  world. 
To  use  the  exact  words  of  the  committee,  such  law  would 
' '  close  the  gate  of  every  mill  in  the  state. ' '  The  question 
of  hours  then  remained  dormant,  so  far  as  the  legislature 
was  concerned,  until  1850,  when  a  legislative  committee 
that  had  been  instructed  to  consider  the  subject  ascer- 
tained that  mills  in  Lowell  were  running  twelve  hours 
daily,  or  fourteen  hours  more  per  week  than  English  mills  ; 
yet  the  majority  of  the  committee  considered  legislation    Failure  of  legis- 

,.  .  .         .  .  ,  .,,  ,  ,.   ,  .  lation. 

inexpedient,  the  minority  reporting  a  bill  establishing 
eleven  hours  as  the  legal  day  on  and  after  September  1 , 
1850,  and  ten  hours  on  and  after  July  1,  1851.  The  bill 
was  defeated.  Two  years  elapsed  before  the  subject  came 
up  again,  when,  in  1852,  an  attempt  was  made  to  have 
ten  hours  made  the  legal  day,  in  the  absence  of  any  spe- 
cial contract,  and  providing  that  children  under  fifteen 
should  not  work  more  than  ten  hours.  The  bill  provid- 
ing for  this  measure  failed. 

Nothing  of  any  consequence  occurred  relative  to  at- 
tempts to  secure  labor  legislation  until  1865,  when  an  un- 
paid commission  of  five  was  appointed  to  collect  information 
and  statistics  in  regard  to  the  hours  of  labor  and  the  con- 
dition and  prospects  of  the  industrial  class.  This  was 
the  first  step  in  the  world  toward  the  establishment  of 
bureaus  of  statistics  of  labor.  Governor  Bullock,  in  his 
address  for  1866,  called  attention  to  the  report  of  this 
commission.  He  stated  that  the  question  of  the  hours  of 
labor  was  not  merely  one  of  sanitary  connections,  but  one 
which  related  to  the  social  condition  of  the  state.  He  said 
he  had  no  hesitation  as  to  the  rightful  authority  of  the 
legislature  over  the  subject,  and  believed  that  a  concession 
to  the  wishes  of  those  who  sought  for  a  thorough  inquiry 
would  be  productive  of  a  better  understanding,  not  only 
of  the  specific  question  itself,  but  of  the  intimate  and  11111- 


270      Industrial  Evolution  of  tlic   United  States. 

tually  beneficial  relations  which  all  classes  sustained  to 

each  other.      In  response  to  this  the  legislature  passed,  in 

Act  of  1866  re-      j.866,  an  act  in  relation  to  the  employment  of  children  in 

l:ii  m.u  to  em-  '  '       ■> 

children1  °f        manufacturing  establishments,  and  this  act  is  worthy  of 
consideration  at  this  point.      It  reads  as  follows  : 

AN   ACT 

IN    RELATION   TO   THE   EMPLOYMENT    OF    CHILDREN    IN    MANU- 
FACTURING  ESTABLISHMENTS. 

Section  i.  No  child  under  the  age  of  ten  years  shall  be 
employed  in  any  manufacturing  establishment  within  this  com- 
monwealth, and  no  child  between  the  age  of  ten  and  fourteen 
years  shall  be  so  employed,  unless  he  has  attended  some  pub- 
lic or  private  school  under  teachers  approved  by  the  school 
committee  of  the  place  in  which  such  school  is  kept,  at  least 
six  months  during  the  year  next  preceding  such  employment ; 
nor  shall  such  employment  continue  unless  such  child  shall  at- 
tend school  at  least  six  months  in  each  and  every  year. 

Section  2.  The  owner,  agent,  or  superintendent  of  any 
manufacturing  establishment,  who  knowingly  employs  a  child 
in  violation  of  the  preceding  section,  shall  forfeit  a  sum  not  ex- 
ceeding fifty  dollars  for  each  offense. 

Section  3.  No  child  under  the  age  of  fourteen  years  shall 
be  employed  in  any  manufacturing  establishment  within  this 
commonwealth  more  than  eight  hours  in  any  one  day. 

Section  4.  Any  parent  or  guardian  who  allows  or  consents 
to  the  employment  of  a  child,  in  violation  of  the  first  section  of 
this  act,  shall  forfeit  a  sum  not  exceeding  fifty  dollars  for  each 
offense. 

Section  5.  The  governor,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of 
the  council,  may,  at  his  discretion,  instruct  the  constable  of  the 
commonwealth  and  his  deputies  to  enforce  the  provisions  of 
chapter  forty-two  of  the  General  Statutes,  and  all  other  laws 
regulating  the  employment  of  children  in  manufacturing  estab- 
lishments, and  to  prosecute  all  violations  of  the  same. 

Massachusetts         The  same  legislature,  that  of  1866,  authorized  the  ap- 

commission  to  .  . 

make  investiga-   pointment  of  a  commission  of  three  persons  to  mvesti- 


tions. 


gate  the  subject  of  the  hours  of  labor  in  its  relation  to 


The  Basis  of  Labor  Legislation.  271 

the  social,  educational,  and  sanitary  condition  of  the 
working  classes.  This  language  is  very  significant.  It 
is  found  in  nearly  every  act  creating  a  bureau  of  statis- 
tics of  labor  in  the  United  States. 

The  next   year,    1S67,    the  legislature   regulated  the   Actofi^. 
schooling  and  hours  of  labor  of  children  employed  in 
manufacturing  and  mechanical  establishments,  and  this 
act  has  been  considered  fundamental  in  its  provisions, 
and  it  belongs  to  the  history  of  labor.       It  is  as  follows  : 

Section  i.  No  child  under  the  age  of  ten  years  shall  be 
employed  in  any  manufacturing  or  mechanical  establishment 
within  this  commonwealth,  and  no  child  between  the  age  of 
ten  and  fifteen  years  shall  be  so  employed,  unless  he  has  at- 
tended some  public  or  private  school  under  teachers  approved 
by  the  school  committee  of  the  place  in  which  such  school  is 
kept,  at  least  three  months  during  the  year  next  preceding  such 
employment :  provided  said  child  shall  have  lived  within  the 
commonwealth  during  the  preceding  six  months  ;  nor  shall 
such  employment  continue  unless  such  child  shall  attend  school 
at  least  three  months  in  each  and  every  year  ;  and  provided 
that  tuition  of  three  hours  per  day  in  a  public  or  private  day 
school  approved  by  the  school  committee  of  the  place  in  which 
such  school  is  kept,  during  a  term  of  six  months,  shall  be  deemed 
the  equivalent  of  three  months'  attendance  at  a  school  kept  in 
accordance  with  the  customary  hours  of  tuition  ;  and  no  ti un- 
less than  sixty  days  of  actual  schooling  shall  be  accounted  as 
three  months,  and  no  time  less  than  one  hundred  and  twenty 
half-days  of  actual  schooling  shall  be  deemed  an  equivalent  of 
three  months. 

Section  2.  No  child  under  the  age  of  fifteen  years  shall  be 
employed  in  any  manufacturing  or  mechanical  establishment 
more  than  sixty  hours  in  one  week. 

Section  3.  Any  owner,  agent,  superintendent,  or  oxer- 
seer  of  any  manufacturing  or  mechanical  establishment,  who 
shall  knowingly  employ,  or  permit  to  be  employed,  any  child 
in  violation  of  the  preceding  sections,  and  any  parent  or  guard- 
ian who  allows  or  consents  to  such  employment,  shall  for  such 
offense  forfeit  the  sum  of  fifty  dollars. 


272       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    U?iited  Slates. 

Sfxtion  4.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  constable  of  the 
commonwealth  to  specially  detail  one  of  his  deputies  to  see 
that  the  provisions  of  this  act  and  all  other  laws  regulating  the 
employment  of  children  or  minors  in  manufacturing  or  me- 
chanical establishments,  are  complied  with,  and  to  prosecute 
offenses  against  the  same  ;  and  he  shall  report  annually  to  the 
governor  all  proceedings  under  this  act ;  and  nothing  in  this 
section  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  prohibit  any  person  from  pros- 
ecuting such  offenses. 

Section  5.  Chapter  two  hundred  and  seventy-three  of  the 
acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-six  is  hereby  re- 
pealed :  provided,  this  act  shall  not  affect  any  proceedings  now 
pending. 

Section  6.  This  act  shall  take  effect  sixty  days  from  its 
passage. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  act  of  1866  was  repealed  by 
Repeal  of  act  of  this  last  law,  but  it  established  on  a  broader  basis  the 
principles  were    principles  announced  the  year  before.     In  1867  a  special 

established.  i  r  ,  ,  /       ,  .  .        '  .  . 

state  constable  was  appointed  to  enforce  the  provisions 
of  the  schooling  act  just  quoted. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

LABOR    LEGISLATION. 

The  commission  on  the  hours  of  labor  which  had  been  Report  of 
established  in  1866  and  1867  made  a  report,  which  was  commission  of 
signed  by  the  five  commissioners,  and  after  presenting  l866  and  I&6?' 
some  statistics  concerning  the  hours  of  labor,  they  con- 
cluded that  the  ten-hour  system  was  generally  adopted 
in  mechanical  employments  and  that  eleven  hours  was 
the  general  rule  in  cotton  factories.  After  presenting 
the  arguments,  pro  and  con,  for  a  reduction  of  the  hours 
of  labor,  touching  in  their  considerations  upon  such 
points  as  province  of  law,  law  of  usury,  overwork,  hasty 
meals,  labor-saving  machinery,  elevation  of  labor,  etc., 
they  arrived  at  the  conclusion,  regarding  an  eight-hour 
law,  that  it  should  not  be  adopted,  and  for  the  reasons, 
as  they  considered,  that  it  was  unsound  in  principle  to  ap- 
ply one  measure  of  time  to  all  kinds  of  labor  ;  that  if 
adopted  as  a  general  law  it  would  be  rendered  void  by 
special  contracts  ;  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  the 
industrial  interests  could  not  observe  it  ;  and,  finally, 
that  if  restricted  to  the  employees  of  the  state  of  Massa- 
chusetts it  would  be  manifestly  partial  and  therefore  un- 
just ;  and  the  commission  took  the  ground  that  the 
change  desired  could  be  better  brought  about  by  work- 
ingmen  outside  the  legislature  than  by  legislators  them- 
selves.    The  commission  did  recomnu-nd,  however,  that   „ 

Its  recom- 

a  change  be  made  in  the  statutes  concerning  the  school-   mendatioos. 
ing  and  work  of  children   in   manufacturing  districts,  in 

273 


274      Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


such  way  as  to  give  them  twice  the  amount  of  schooling 
then  required,  and  this,  it  thought,  could  be  secured  by 
adopting  in  full  what  is  known  as  the  ' '  half-time  sys- 
tem." The  commission  recommended  that  an  inspector 
or  inspectors  be  appointed  to  attend  to  the  enforcement 
of  the  laws  then  in  existence,  and  their  duty  should  be 
to  look  after  the  children  put  to  apprenticeship  or  other- 
wise bound  to  service  by  the  state,  to  see  that  they  were 
properly  cared  for  according  to  the  terms  of  indentures  ; 
and  it  made  this  further  recommendation,  that  provision 
be  made  for  the  annual  collection  of  reliable  statistics  in 
regard  to  the  condition,  prospects,  and  wants  of  the  in- 
dustrial classes. 

The  second  commission  also  made  a  majority  and  a 
minority  report,  and  they  found  that  the  act  of  1866, 
which  has  been  quoted,  and  which  provided  that  no  child 
under  ten  years  of  age  should  be  employed  in  any  manu- 
facturing establishment  within  the  commonwealth,  was 
generally  disregarded.  Eleven  hours  was  found  to  be 
the  rule  in  factories,  and  the  commissioners  remarked 
that  such  toil  each  day  for  six  days  in  each  week  was 
more  than  women  and  children  ought  to  be  required  to 
perform.  The  commission  recommended  that  the  exist- 
ing laws  be  so  amended  as  to  insure  the  execution  of 
provisions  which  forbid  the  employment  of  children  be- 
tween the  ages  of  ten  and  fourteen,  and  that  the  employ- 
ment of  all  persons  under  the  age  of  eighteen  years  in 
factories  for  more  than  ten  hours  each  day  or  sixty  hours 
per  week  be  prohibited.  It  also  recommended  that  a 
bureau  of  statistics  be  established  for  the  purpose  of  col- 
lecting and  making  available  all  facts  relating  to  the  in- 
dustrial and  social  interests  of  the  commonwealth. 

On  the  general  question  of  the  reduction  of  the  hours 
of  labor,  however,  the  commissioners  did  not  believe  in 


Labor  Legislation.  2j$ 

lawmaking.  They  thought  public  sentiment  should  in- 
duce the  employer  to  shorten  the  hours  in  certain  trades, 
especially  in  the  winter  season.  They  argued  strongly 
in  favor  of  making  the  hour  the  unit  of  time  in  relation  to 
labor,  and  suggested  that  it  might  be  well  to  enact  that 
no  contracts  for  labor  not  made  upon  the  hour  standard 
should  be  recognized  in  law.  The  commission  concluded 
that  it  could  not  recommend  the  enactment  of  any  law  re- 
stricting the  hours  of  labor  for  the  adult  population  of 
the  commonwealth. 

In  1869,  following  the  recommendations  of  the  com-   Establishment 
missions,  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts  established  the  of  statistics  of 
Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor.     Between  1866  and  1869 
there  was  no  particular  attention  given  to  labor  reform, 
so  far  as  legislation  was  concerned,  in  any  of  its  phases. 
The  establishment  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor  in 
1869  marked  the  beginning  of  a  new  movement  in  this 
country.     That  bureau  was  authorized  to  collect,  assort, 
systematize,  and  present  in  annual  reports  to  the  legisla- 
ture, statistical  details  relating  to  all  departments  of  labor 
in  the  commonwealth,  especially  in  its  relation  to  the 
commercial,  industrial,  social,  educational,  and  sanitary 
condition  of  the  laboring  classes,  and  to  the  permanent 
prosperity  of  the  productive  industry  of  the  common- 
wealth.    The  experience  of  this  office  has  led  to  the  es- 
tablishment of  bureaus  in  thirty-one  other  states  and  of  JfitesaKui 
the  United  States  Department  of  Labor.     An  influence  ^Vu'/h 
has  grown  out  of  the  work  of  these  bureaus  and  depart-  officers- 
ment  which  has  extended  over  the  world,  so  that  the  ex- 
perience of  American  states  in  collecting  and  publishing 
information  relating  to  industrial  affairs  has  been  repeated 
in  England,   France,  Germany,   Belgium,   Italy,  Russia,    Foreign 
Austria,  and  other  states  of  continental  Europe,  and  in  SSS^ftahST. 
New  Zealand  and  Canada. 


276      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Facts  which  the  American  offices  have  been  able  to  lay- 
before  the  public  have  assisted  largely  in  securing  legis- 
lation on  the  one  hand,  and  of  preventing  injurious  legis- 
lation on  the  other. 

The  attempts  to  secure  legislation  relative  to  the  hours 

Ten-hour  law  of  of  labor  were  renewed  in  1870  with  great  earnestness, 

1874. 

and  each  year  saw  a  repetition  of  attempts  to  secure  the 
enactment  of  a  ten-hour  law  ;  but  these  attempts  proved 
unsuccessful  until  1874,  when  the  act  establishing  the 
hours  of  labor  at  sixty  per  week  for  women  and  for  chil- 
dren under  eighteen  years  of  age  was  passed.  This  law 
provides  that  no  minor  under  the  age  of  eighteen  years 
and  no  woman  over  that  age  shall  be  employed  by  any 
person,  firm,  or  corporation  in  any  manufacturing  estab- 
lishment more  than  ten  hours  in  any  one  day,  except 
when  it  is  necessary  to  make  repairs  to  prevent  the  stop- 
page or  interruption  of  the  ordinary  running  of  the  ma- 
chinery. The  law  also  provides  for  penalties  in  case  of 
violation. 

In  1872  Massachusetts  passed  a  law  to  secure  cheap 
morning  and  evening  trains  on  railways  for  the  use  of 
workingmen.  No  other  state  in  the  Union  is  known  to 
have  ever  made  this  attempt,  or,  at  least,  to  have  suc- 
ceeded in  passing  such  a  law.  The  roads  running  trains 
out  of  Boston  to  the  suburbs  followed  the  requirements 
of  the  law,  and  ever  since  on  some  of  the  roads,  where 
they  have  been  petitioned  for  the  trains,  these  working- 
men's  trains  have  been  run.  In  England  they  are  known 
as  ' '  parliamentary  trains. ' ' 

The  legislation  of  1874  establishing  the  ten-hour  system 
for  women  and  for  children  under  eighteen  years  of  age 
did  not  entirely  quiet  the  ten-hour  agitation,  and  subse- 
quently new  legislation  has  been  secured  reducing  the 
time   below  sixty  hours  per  week.     The  legislation  of 


Workingmen's 
trains. 


Ten-hour  law 
in  Massachu- 
setts. 


Labor  Legislation.  277 


ployees. 


1876  reconstructed  the  laws  relating  to  the  employment 
of  children  and  the  regulations  respecting  them,  yet  pre- 
served the  principles  involved  in  the  earlier  legislation. 

In  1877,  following  the  general  provisions  of  the  Eng-  inspection  of 
lish  factory  acts,  the  legislature  enacted  a  law  relating  to 
the  inspection  of  factories  and  public  buildings,  under  the 
provisions  of  which  all  dangerous  machinery,  such  as  belt- 
ing, shafting,  gearing,  drums,  etc.,  must  be  securely 
guarded  ;  and  it  also  provided  that  no  machinery,  other 
than  steam-engines,  shall  be  cleaned  while  running.  The 
ventilation  and  cleanliness  of  factories  are  also  secured. 
Hoistways,  hatchways,  elevators,  well-holes  are,  under  the 
law,  to  be  provided  with  and  protected  by  good  and  suf-  safety  of  em 
ficient  trap-doors,  etc.,  and  all  establishments  three  or 
more  stories  in  height  are  to  be  provided  with  properly 
constructed  fire-escapes.  The  law  also  provides  that  all 
the  main  doors,  both  inside  and  outside,  of  manufacturing 
establishments  shall  open  outwardly  whenever  inspectors 
shall  deem  it  necessary,  and  means  of  extinguishing  fires 
must  be  provided  in  all  such  works.  The  law  went  be- 
yond manufacturing  establishments,  and  provided  that  all 
churches,  schoolrooms,  halls,  theaters,  and  every  build- 
ing used  for  public  assemblies  should  have  such  means  of 
egress  as  the  factory  inspectors  should  approve,  and  that 
all  doors  to  main  entrances  in  such  buildings  should  swing 
outwardly.  Portable  seats  were  prohibited  in  the  halls 
or  passageways  of  buildings  during  any  entertainment  or 
service.  These  provisions  have  remained  in  the  laws  of 
the  commonwealth  and  have  been  incorporated  in  those 
of  many  other  states.  Factory  inspectors  are  provided  in 
many  of  the  great  manufacturing  states,  and  they  have  an 
annual  convention,  during  which  they  consider  means  for 
the  safety  of  operatives,  miners,  and  all  employees  en- 
gaged in  manufacturing,  mining,  or  mechanical  pursuits. 


278       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  Stairs. 


Great  good  has  come  from  their  deliberations.  The  com- 
monwealth of  Massachusetts  has  constantly  amended  the 
laws  to  which  reference  has  been  made,  perfecting  them, 
extending  them,  or  restricting  them  when  their  provisions 
were  found  to  be  inoperative. 
Factory  laws  of       This  brief  history  of  factory  labor  laws  in  the  com- 

Mussucli  usctts 

taken  as  for  the  monwealth  of  Massachusetts  is  the  history  of  like  legis- 

whole  United  ... 

states.  lation  in  various  other  states.* 

Looking  out  more  broadly  now,  it  is  found  that  cer- 
tain changes  have  been  made  in  the  common  law, 
growing  out  of  the  conditions  of  modern  industry,  and 
resulting  in  positive  legislation  which  has  changed  the 
old  common-law  rules.  The  chief  legislation  in  this 
respect  relates  to  employers'  liability  for  personal  injuries 
to  their  employees.  Under  the  common  law  as  it  exists 
in  England  and  America  and  in  the  greater  part  of  the 
continent  of  Europe,  where  the  Roman  law  is  the  prec- 
edent, it  is  the  rule  that  the  principal  is  responsible  for 
the  acts  of  the  agent,  the  same  as  if  he  performed  the 
acts  himself.  There  are,  of  course,  many  modifications 
of  this  rule  under  special  circumstances,  but  the  general 
rule  is  as  stated.  It  is  curious,  however,  to  note  that 
this  rule  does  not  apply,  generally  and  in  broad  terms, 
where  the  person  injured  by  the  agent  or  employee  of 
another  is  also  an  agent  or  employee  of  the  same  prin- 
cipal ;  that  is,  in  simple  terms,  if  A  is  the  proprietor  of 
a  factory,  a  works,  or  a  railroad,  and  B  and  C  are  em- 
ployees of  A,  and  B  is  injured  through  the  carelessness 
or  negligence  of  C,  he  cannot  recover  of  the  proprietor 
A,  because  B  and  C  are  what  are  known  under  the  com- 
mon law  as  co-employees,  and  the  defense  of  co-employ- 
ment would  be  set  up  in  the  courts  of  the  common  law. 


Employers' 

liability. 


Common-law 
rule. 


*  See  reports  of  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor,  1876,  and  sub- 
sequent years. 


Labor  Legislation.  279 


under  which  it  would  be  claimed  that  A  was  not  liable  to 

B    for   any  damages    resulting:    from    injuries    received    illustration  <■( 

.  the  common- 

thrOUgh  the  negligence    of  C.       This  doctrine,    too,    is   law  rule- 

subject  to  modifications  and  restrictions,  but  the  broad 
principle  is  as  stated.  Of  course  if  it  could  be  proved 
by  B,  who  was  injured  through  the  carelessness  or  neg- 
ligence of  C,  that  the  carelessness  or  negligence  was 
really  that  of  the  proprietor  A,  then  he  could  recover, 
but  not  otherwise. 

It  is  usually  assumed,  under  the  common-law  rule, 
that  the  employee  engages  in  the  services  of  a  companv 
or  of  an  individual  employer  with  a  full  knowledge  of 
all  the  risks,  dangers,  and  responsibilities  of  the  peculiar 
employment,  and  therefore  assumes  those  risks,  respon- 
sibilities, and  liabilities  under  any  dangers  which  exist  ; 
but  such  risks  which  the  employee  takes  are  considered 
onlv  the  ordinary  risks.      The  rule  does  not  applv  where 

J    .         .  1  x    j  \\  nen  ruie  does 

the  risk  is  not  of  such  a  nature  as  to  be  reasonably  known  "°t  apply, 
and  assumed,  nor  does  it  apply  under  circumstances 
where  the  risk  is  known  to  the  employer  but  not  to  the 
employee,  nor  where  the  employer  is  under  a  positive 
duty  and  the  injury  results  from  neglect  of  that  positive 
duty,  nor,  as  already  remarked,  when  the  injury  is  in- 
curred through  the  negligence  of  the  employer  himself, 
except,  in  the  latter  case,  where  the  employee  may  have 
contributed  to  the  negligence. 

This  whole  subject  of  the  liability  of  employers  for  in- 
juries to  their  employees  is  an  exceedingly  interesting 
one,  and  offers  very  many  opportunities  for  fine  legal 
distinctions  and  the  application  of  what  might  be  called 
the  philosophy  of  law.  The  reader  must  bear  in  mind 
that  while  the  rules  of  the  common  law  are  as  have 
been  broadly  stated,  modifications  and  restrictions  exist. 
The  one  which  is  of  interest  at  this  point  is  that  which 


280      Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


"Judge-made 
law." 


How  it  works 
on  a  railroad. 


prevents  the  employee  from  recovering  as  against  the 
employer  when  the  employee  is  injured  through  the 
negligence  or  carelessness  of  a  co-employee.  This  lat- 
ter rule  is  a  growth  of  recent  years,  and  is  what  is  or- 
dinarily denominated  "judge-made  law"  ;  that  is,  it  is 
the  result  of  the  rulings  of  courts  in  various  places,  and 
not  the  result  of  statutory  provision.  It  has  grown  up 
from  the  olden  time  and  been  projected  into  new  con- 
ditions never  contemplated  when  the  rule  was  of  value. 
The  old  rule  has  a  good  deal  of  reason  in  it  under  cer- 
tain restricted  circumstances,  but  when  broadly  applied 
it  appears  to  many  to  be  so  inconsistent,  and  even  ridic- 
ulous, that  legislatures  are  beginning  to  restrict  the 
common  law  by  positive  statutes. 

An  illustration  of  how  the  old  rule  would  work  will, 
perhaps,  best  emphasize  its  absurdity.  A  man  under 
former  systems  of  industry,  before  the  great  factory  sys- 
tem and  the  congregation  of  labor  generally  came  into 
vogue — in  fact,  before  the  development  of  industries 
under  our  present  methods — in  working  alongside  of  his 
fellow  employee  and  all  the  employees  working  with  the 
employer  himself,  might  not  reasonably  claim  damages 
for  any  injury  received  during  the  co-employment  ;  but 
to  apply  this  rule  when  a  brakeman  on  a  railroad  line,  it 
may  be  hundreds  of  miles  in  length,  by  the  negligence  of 
a  switchman  whom  the  brakeman  never  saw,  whose  char- 
acter he  did  not  know  when  he  entered  the  service,  and 
to  whose  negligence  the  brakeman  could  not  possibly 
have  contributed,  receives  serious  personal  injury,  ap- 
pears, to  the  ordinary  mind,  the  very  height  of  absurdity. 
Under  the  old  rule  the  brakeman  cannot,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances just  described,  recover  any  damages  from  the 
railroad  corporation,  because  the  brakeman  and  the 
switchman  are  considered  as  co-employees  of  the  same 


Labor  Legislation.  281 

principal.  So  in  a  factory,  the  attendant  of  a  loom  may 
be  quietly  and  industriously  attending  to  her  business  as  in  a  factory- 
a  weaver,  and  through  the  negligence  or  carelessness  or 
drunkenness  of  one  who  attends  the  engine  in  the  engine- 
house  a  thousand  feet  away,  loses  an  arm  ;  under  these 
circumstances  the  weaver  cannot  recover  damages  from 
the  proprietor  or  owners  of  the  factory  under  the  com- 
mon-law rule. 

These  illustrations  show  how  thoroughly  absurd  that 
rule  appears  to  many  men  and  to  many  most  excellent 
lawyers  and  judges.  In  order  to  remedy  the  difficulty 
recourse  has  been  had  to  statutory  provisions,  by  which 
the  rule  is  abrogated  or  its  application  limited.  The  first 
attempt  at  such  limitation  was  by  the  Parliament  of  Great 
Britain.  After  long  agitation,  investigations  by  parlia- 
mentary committees,  and  discussions  in  Parliament,  a  law  Modification  of 
in  great  measure  abrogating  the  common-law  rule  was  ruiei^Engiand. 
enacted  in  1880  ;  and  that  act  called  the  attention  of  em- 
ployers and  employees  everywhere  to  the  inconsistencies 
of  the  common  law.  Many  corporations  resisted  the  en- 
actment of  laws  which  would  tend,  as  they  claimed,  to 
the  great  increase  of  expenses  of  running  their  works  or 
roads,  and  much  fear  was  expressed  on  the  passage  of 
the  bill  through  Parliament  that  the  results  would  be  dis- 
astrous to  industry  and  prevent  dividends  on  the  .stink 
of  railroads.  The  experience  of  the  English  law,  how- 
ever, has  not  substantiated  such  fears,  while  one  of  the 
very  best  effects  of  the  law  has  been  to  induce  greater  1  are 
in  the  selection  of  agents.  It  maybe  that  this  is  the 
very  greatest  benefit  that  can  be  derived  from  such  a 
statute,  for  the  careful  administration  of  the  railroad 
service  is  one  of  the  most  vital  features  of  railroad  man- 
agement, so  far  as  the  public  is  concerned  ;  and  it  the 
statutory  limitation  of  the  common  law  stimulates  the 


282       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    I  Tnited  States. 


Modification  in 
the  United 
States. 


Alabama. 
Massachusetts. 


Action  in  other 
states. 


selection  of  the  very  best  skill  in  the  employment  of  men, 
it  certainly  justifies  its  enactment.  It  is  true  that  the 
financial  disasters  predicted  have  not  occurred. 

All  the  agitation  in  England  relative  to  the  subject  has 
reappeared  in  the  United  States.  Labor  organizations 
demand  it  in  their  platforms  and  declarations  of  princi- 
ples, learned  writers  have  insisted  upon  the  justice  of  it, 
and  judges  have  indorsed  it.  The  first  law,  however, 
following  in  any  great  degree  the  English  legislation  was 
quietly  passed  by  the  Alabama  legislature  February  12, 
1885.  The  Massachusetts  legislature,  after  several  years 
of  consideration  and  a  very  careful  investigation  of  the 
law  and  facts  by  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor,  passed 
an  act  to  extend  and  regulate  the  liability  of  employers 
to  make  compensation  for  personal  injuries  suffered  by 
employees  in  their  service.  This  act  was  passed  in  1887. 
These  two  states  are  the  only  states  that  have  practically 
reenacted  the  English  law  of  1880.  Many  other  states 
have,  in  some  way  and  to  some  extent,  weakened  the 
force  of  the  common-law  rule.  California,  Colorado, 
Dakota,  Florida,  Georgia,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Minnesota, 
Montana,  Wisconsin,  Wyoming,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Ken- 
tucky, Texas,  and  it  may  be  others,  have  in  some  way 
limited  the  old  common-law  rule.* 


*  The  whole  question  of  employers'  liability  is  fully  discussed  in  the  report 
of  the  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor  for  1S83  ;  in  the  Eleventh 
Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor  and  Industries  of  New 
Jersey,  1888  ;  in  the  Fifth  Annual  Report  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of 
Labor,  1889. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

labor  legislation  {Concluded'). 

There  has  been  a  great  change  in  the  doctrine  of 
conspiracy  as  applied  to  the  efforts  of  workingmen  to 
secure  higher  wages  or  to  resist  reduction.  Prior  to  1824 
it  was  conspiracy  and  felony  in  England  for  laborers  to 
unite  for  purposes  which  are  now  regarded  in  that  coun- 
try as  desirable,  not  only  for  the  safety  of  government 
but  for  the  safety  of  capital  and  for  the  protection  of  the 
rights  of  workingmen. 

While  the  doctrine  of  conspiracy,  as  derived  from  the  changes  in  con- 
English  common  law  and  applied  in  this  country  as  spi" 
modified  by  statute,  has  not,  perhaps,  undergone  any 
radical  changes,  it  is  construed  nevertheless  much  more 
liberally  now  than  formerly.  The  trial  of  the  journey- 
men boot  and  shoemakers  of  Philadelphia  in  1806 
furnishes  a  striking  example.  At  that  trial  the  recorder 
broadly  asserted  that  ' '  a  combination  of  workmen  to 
raise  their  wages  may  be  considered  in  a  twofold  point 
of  view  ;  one  is  to  benefit  themselves,  the  other  is  to 
injure  those  who  do  not  join  their  society.  The  rule  of 
law  condemns  both." 

The  doctrine  has  been  construed  and  applied  in  rather  Sporadic  con. 
a  sporadic  way  as  far  back  as  1821,  when  Judge  Gibson   Btructton  in  the 
of  Pennsylvania   expressed    views   more  in  accordance 
with  the  construction  to-day  than  many  judges  who  suc- 
ceeded him.     Judge  Savage,  in  New  York,  in  deliver- 
ing an  opinion,  cited  instances  in  cases  supporting  the 

283 


284       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


Law  of  con- 
spiracy not  well 
understood. 


Present  con- 
struction as 
illustrated  in 
New  York. 


statements  that  a  confederacy  or  mutual  agreement  for 
the  purpose  of  raising  wages  was  an  indictable  offense  at 
common  law. 

It  is  probably  true  that  the  doctrine  of  conspiracy  was 
so  seldom  invoked  in  the  past  that  it  was  only  imperfectly 
understood  and  that  many  belonging  to  the  legal  pro- 
fession did  not  fully  appreciate  it.  So,  in  view  of  the 
few  precedents  and  adjudications,  the  decision  in  each  in- 
dividual case  depended  much,  perhaps  entirely,  on  the 
research  and  learning  of  the  judge  before  whom  the  trial 
was  made.  As  cases  have  multiplied  in  this  country, 
however,  the  learning  on  the  subject  has  become  more 
widely  known  ;  but  the  question  of  what  combinations  of 
workmen  or  employers  may  or  may  not  do  without  sub- 
jecting themselves  to  indictment  for  conspiracy  is  still 
somewhat  obscure,  especially  in  those  states  in  which  the 
common  law  unmodified  by  statute  still  remains  in  force. 
Without  modification  by  statute  judges  have  modified  its 
application,  and  so  to-day  a  combination  of  workingmen 
for  the  purpose  of  united  action  in  securing  an  increase 
of  wages  or  for  preventing  a  decrease  is  not  considered 
conspiracy,  nor  the  persons  indictable  as  conspirators. 

Perhaps  as  good  an  illustration  of  the  present  construc- 
tion of  the  doctrine  of  conspiracy,  as  limited  by  statute, 
as  can  be  given  is  contained  in  the  decision  of  Judge  Bar- 
rett of  the  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  of  the  city  of  New 
York*,  delivered  September  29,  18S7,  when  certain  mem- 
bers of  the  executive  committee  of  one  of  the  district  as- 
semblies of  the  Knights  of  Labor  were  on  trial  for  alleged 
unlawful  interference  with  employees  of  a  manufacturer 
of  that  city.  Judge  Barrett  states  that  the  law,  as  ex- 
pressed in  the  existing  statute,  permits  orderly  and  peace- 
able cooperation,   and,  to  render  cooperation   effective, 

*  Affirmed  by  Court  of  Appeals. 


Labor  Legislation.  285 


courts. 


permits,  logically,  a  resort  to  all  lawful  means  of  enforce- 
ment. He  said  that  peaceable  withdrawal  from  employ- 
ment, commonly  called  a  strike,  however  extensive,  is 
plainly  such  an  incident.  Violence,  of  course,  is  not, 
nor  is  a  threat  of  violence,  whether  direct  or  as  implied 
in  a  disorderly  and  turbulent  strike  ;  and  Judge  Brady, 
in  delivering  the  opinion  of  the  Supreme  Court,  to  which 
the  case  just  cited  had  been  appealed,  stated  that  ' '  no 
doubt  exists  of  the  right  of  workmen  to  seek  by  all  pos- 
sible means  an  increase  of  wages,  and  all  meetings  and 
combinations  having  that  object  in  view,  which  are  not 
distinguished  by  violence  or  threats,  and  are  unlawful 
therefore,  cannot  be  reasonably  condemned  or  justly  in- 
terfered with." 

This  fairly  represents  the  attitude  of  the  courts  on  the 
doctrine  of  conspiracy  as  applied  to  combinations  of  work-  Attitude  ot 
ingmen  for  lawful  purposes.  It  is  only  recently,  how- 
ever, that  legislation  in  this  country  has  been  directed 
toward  strikes,  boycotts,  and  conspiracies  relating  to  the 
raising  of  wages,  etc.  In  many  of  the  states  where 
the  common  law  of  England  was  in  force  men  were 
tried  for,  and  often  convicted  of,  conspiracy  for  at- 
tempts to  coerce  their  employers  by  resorting  to 
strikes  and  their  concomitants — the  boycotting  of  non- 
union men  and  those  who  employed  them.  In  recent 
years  a  number  of  states  and  territories  have  endeavored 
to  make  plain  by  statute  how  far  a  combination  by  em- 
ployees to  raise  or  maintain  the  rate  of  wages,  or  for  kin- 
dred purposes,  is  to  be  protected  ;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  what  acts  by  such  combinations  or  by  individuals 
will  subject  the  perpetrators  to  punishment.  Some  states, 
however,  have  made  no  such  efforts,  but  of  them  it  is 
true  that  the  common  law  on  the  subject  of  conspiracy 
appears  to  be  still  in  force  and  that  in  some  others  where 


Of  legislatures. 


286       Industrial   Evolution  of  the.    United  States. 


Strikes,  etc., 
not  occur  in 
agricultural 
communities 


do 


Peaceable  or- 
ganization not 
conspiracy. 


Truck  system. 


Evils  of  truck 
system. 


the  common -law  rule  obtains  the  absence  of  statutory 
enactments  on  the  subject  may  be  accounted  for  by  the 
comparative  rarity  of  serious  strikes  or  boycotts.  This 
is  especially  true  in  localities  where  agriculture  is  the 
chief  pursuit  of  the  people  and  where  the  mechanical, 
manufacturing,  and  mining  interests  are  of  little  or  no 
importance.  In  such  communities  strikes,  boycotts,  and 
conspiracies  relating  to  wages  are  almost  unknown. 

Intimidation,  violence,  threats,  and  all  such  efforts 
must  accompany  combinations  now  in  most  of  the  states 
in  order  to  constitute  a  case  of  conspiracy  under  the  law. 
Peaceable  organization  for  peaceable  and  lawful  purposes 
is  no  longer  conspiracy.  It  is  a  piece  of  wisdom,  there- 
fore, that  so  many  of  the  states  have  taken  the  pains  to 
define  by  statute  what  shall  constitute  conspiracy. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  development  of  mechanical  in- 
dustries, the  truck  system  was  introduced  in  different 
parts  of  the  country  east  and  west.  It  never  had  any  ex- 
istence in  the  South  until  since  the  war.  By  the  truck 
system  is  meant  the  payment  of  wages  in  goods.  Great 
manufacturing  concerns,  removed  somewhat  from  trade 
centers,  established  stores  where  their  employees  could 
be  supplied  with  the  necessaries  of  life.  The  prime  motive 
in  the  establishment  of  such  stores  was  undoubtedly  to 
accommodate  the  employees,  because  goods  were  brought 
directly  to  their  own  locality  and  they  could  get  them 
easily  and  avoid  great  inconvenience  ;  but  the  habit  soon 
grew  of  allowing  employees  to  run  an  account  at  such 
stores,  the  consequence  being  that  on  settlement  days 
many  found  that  their  wages  had  all  been  taken  to  pay 
the  account,  and  that  little  or  nothing  was  coming  to 
them.  The  temptation  in  this  direction  was  twofold  : 
First,  the  employees  improvidently  bought  many  things 
which  they  would  not  have  purchased  had  they  been 


Labor  Legislation.  287 


obliged  to  pay  in  cash  at  the  time  of  the  purchase,  and 

they  thus  exhausted  their  month's  wages.     Second,  the   "Mock-me 

.  °  stores." 

temptation  to  the  employer  to  charge  exorbitant  prices 

and  thus  secure  a  double  profit — first,  through  the  labor, 

and  secondly,  through  the  trade  of  his  employees — grew 

to  an  alarming  extent.     The  result  was  that  these  stores 

came  to  be  known  as  "  pluck-me  stores,"  because  the 

employee  found  himself  plucked  by  trading  at  them. 

To  avoid  the  evils  resulting  from   this  truck  system 

laws  have  been  passed  in  many  states  making  it  unlawful 

for  an  employer  to  pay  wages  in  goods.     The  legislation   Laws  against 
1  •     1  r       1.  -i  truck  system, 

has   not  been  entirely  successful,*  but  it  has  been  very 

beneficial.  The  system  still  exists  in  mining  regions  far 
from  public  stores.  Could  company  stores  be  run  in  the 
interest  of  the  purchasers,  as  they  have  been  many  times, 
much  benefit  would  be  secured.  In  one  manufacturing 
town  in  Connecticut  a  great  corporation  established  a  gen- 
eral store  for  the  supply  of  its  people.  It  made  very  rigid 
rules  fixing  the  price  of  all  things  to  be  sold,  charging 
six  per  cent  in  advance  of  cost.  The  corporation  had  the 
advantage  of  being  able  to  buy  at  first  hands  and  for  cash, 
and  therefore  at  the  lowest  possible  market  prices.  It 
invariably  sold  the  goods  at  an  advance  of  six  per  cent 
on  such  cost,  out  of  which  advance  it  paid  all  the  expenses 
of  the  store.  It  went  further,  and  provided  that  all  profit 
beyond  such  expenses  out  of  the  six  per  cent  advance  on 
cost  should  be  used  in  the  establishment  and  maintenance 
of  a  library  for  the  sole  use  of  its  operatives.  Such  a 
truck  system,  of  course,  would  be  beneficial,  but  the  dif- 
ficulties,  obstacles,  and  temptations  connected  with  the  f.'^uViis1' "' 
whole  system  render  it  obnoxious  to  workingmen  every- 
where, and  law  has  stepped  in  to  remove  the  offense. 
Another  very  important  branch  of  labor   legislation 

*  In  Illinois  it  has  been  declared  unconstitutional. 


288       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


Industrial  con- 
ciliation and 
arbitration. 


Founded  on 
highest  prin- 
ciples of  ethics 
and  religion. 


which  has  been  common  to  many  states  relates  to  indus- 
trial arbitration.  To  avoid  labor  difficulties,  such  as 
strikes,  lockouts,  and  boycotts,  many  devices  have  been 
suggested,  but  no  one  of  them  has  as  yet  proved  effectual. 
It  is  probably  impossible  to  devise  any  measure  which 
will  thoroughly  prevent  strikes  ;  and  it  may  be  that  in  the 
progress  of  civilization  such  complete  prevention  would 
not  be  desirable,  but  any  measure  which  will  prove  effec- 
tual in  reducing  the  number  of  controversies  and  in  re- 
ducing their  severity  must  commend  itself  to  the  minds  of 
all  who  believe  in  law  and  order  and  in  the  rights  of  men. 

Industrial  conciliation  means  the  attempt  on  the  part 
of  some  properly  constituted  body,  either  through  the 
choice  of  the  parties  involved  or  of  the  lawmaking  power, 
to  secure  a  settlement  of  grievances  preferred  by  either 
party,  employer  or  employee,  and  thus  prevent  an  out- 
break or  an  open  declaration  of  industrial  war.  Concili- 
ation follows  the  Pauline  plan  of  adjusting  a  difficulty 
arising  between  two  members  of  a  church.  It  is  there- 
fore founded  on  the  very  highest  principles  of  religion  and 
ethics,  and  wherever  attempted  succeeds  in  large  meas- 
ure. Arbitration  can  be  operative  only  after  the  issue 
is  defined  between  employer  and  employee  ;  that  is, 
after  the  difficulty  is  practically  on.  Conciliation  seeks 
to  prevent  open  war  :  arbitration  seeks  to  adjust  diffi- 
culties after  war  is  declared. 

In  France  the  Cornells  de  Prud  '  hommes,  which  have 
been  in  existence  for  many  years,  endeavor  to  conciliate 
employers  and  employees  whenever  difficulties  arise,  and 
their  work  has  been  most  beneficial.  In  England  there 
are  voluntary  boards  of  conciliation  and  arbitration  cre- 
ated by  mutual  consent,  and  in  those  trades  where  they 
have  been  created  and  efforts  have  been  seriously  made 
to  utilize  them  very  satisfactory  results  have  been  secured. 


Labor  Legislation. 


289 


Fifteen  states 
have  laws  re- 
lating to  arbi- 
tration. 


In  this  country  conciliation  has  not  come  into  vogue 
to  any  great  extent  until  recently,  but  legislatures  have 
seen  the  necessity  of  creating  state  boards  of  arbitration, 
in  order  that  such  boards  might  be  ready  at  any  time 
either  to  offer  their  services  or  to  contribute  them  on  invi- 
tation. Fifteen  states  in  the  Union  have  enacted  laws 
looking  to  the  arbitration  of  labor  troubles.  So  far, 
however,  in  only  three  or  four  states,  notably  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  and  Massachusetts,  have  boards  of  arbitra- 
tion accomplished  much. 

The  United  States  government,  by  an  act  approved  by  Federal  law 
the  president  October  1,  1888,  committed  itself  to  the 
principle  of  industrial  arbitration  on  interstate  railroads  ; 
that  is,  railroad  lines  extending  from  one  state  to  an- 
other and  whose  traffic  is  known  under  the  law  as  inter- 
state commerce.  Of  course,  the  federal  government  has 
no  right  to  legislate  relative  to  the  affairs  of  a  state  in 
such  matters,  but  under  the  constitution  it  has  a  right  to 
regulate  commerce  between  the  states,  and  therefore  to 
make  the  attempt  to  prevent  controversies  arising  on  ac- 
count of  such  commerce  which  in  any  way  interfere  with 
the  peace  and  the  prosperity  of  the  inhabitants  of  dif- 
ferent states. 

Arbitration  is,  ol  course,  ethical,  while  its  broad  re- 
sults may  be  economical  in  bearing.  It  is  ethical  be- 
cause under  it  the  relations  of  man  to  man  and  of  man 
to  society  are  involved.  There  are  two  kinds  of  arbitra- 
tion, known  as  voluntary  and  compulsory  arbitration. 
Voluntary  arbitration  takes  place  when  employer  and 
employee  of  their  own  motion  consent  to  leave  the  de- 
tails of  their  difficulties  to  some  properly  constituted 
board,  which  board  may  be  the  result  of  their  own  choice 
or  one  established  by  law.  To  secure  the  benefits  of 
voluntary  arbitration  requires  a  very  high   moral  stand- 


Ethical  basis  of 
arbitration. 


Voluntary  arbi- 
t  ration. 


290      Industrial  Evolution  0/  the   United  States. 


Boards  may 
lender  services. 


ard,  because  there  must  be,  in  order  to  induce  men  to 
resort  to  it,  a  moral  recognition  of  the  rights  of  others. 
Many  difficulties  have  been  settled  in  this  country  and 
abroad  by  resort  to  voluntary  arbitration. 

Another  feature  of  this  subject  lies  in  the  provision  of 
law  in  some  states  for  the  board  of  arbitration  to  tender 
its  services  to  the  contending  parties.  These  services 
may  be  accepted  or  rejected,  but,  in  most  of  the  cases, 
when  rejected  the  board  still  has  the  right  to  investigate 
all  the  conditions  leading  to  the  difficulties  and  those 
surrounding  it  after  the  break  has  occurred.  In  this 
way  the  public  is  informed  of  the  circumstances  and  con- 
ditions surrounding  the  whole  matter.  Much  good  comes 
from  this,  because  if  the  public  can  be  made  aware 
promptly  of  the  causes  of  a  great  strike  and  can  ascer- 
tain from  official  sources  just  who  is  responsible  for  dis- 
turbing the  peace  by  inaugurating  a  great  strike  or  lock- 
out, sympathy  is  turned  in  the  proper  direction  and  pub- 
lic opinion,  a  very  powerful  judge,  settles  the  matter. 

On  the  other  hand,  compulsory  arbitration,  which  ap- 
pears to  be  a  contradiction  of  terms,  implies  the  forcing 
of  parties  to  submit  their  affairs  to  a  court  of  arbitration. 
To  be  effective  such  court  must  have  all  the  rights,  powers, 
and  privileges  of  a  court  of  law  or  equity  ;  that  is 
to  say,  on  the  petition  or  complaint  of  one  of  the  par- 
ties to  a  labor  controversy  the  court  must  have  the  right 
to  issue  its  process  summoning  the  other  party  into  court 
to  show  cause  why  the  action  sought  by  the  petitioner  or 
complainant  should  not  be  taken.  Furthermore,  the 
court  would  have  the  right,  under  any  system  of  com- 
pulsory arbitration,  to  consider  all  the  matters  pertaining 
to  the  difficulty,  to  come  to  a  conclusion  thereon,  and  to 
enter  its  judgment ;  and  after  entering  its  judgment  it 
would  have  the  right  to  enforce  it,  the  same  as  any  court 


Labor  Legislation.  291 

would  have  the  right  to  enforce  its  judgment  in  a  suit. 

The  difficulties,   complications,  and  embarrassments  re-    Difficulties©* 

compulsory 

suiting  from  such  a  course  of  procedure  would  cause  arbitration, 
more  injury  to  society  than  the  progress  of  the  contro- 
versy which  one  of  the  parties  sought  to  have  settled 
arbitrarily.  There  may  be  some  modifications  of  the 
doctrine  of  compulsory  arbitration  applicable  to  great 
corporations  which  have  a  quasi-public  function,  like 
railroads,  but  so  far  no  way  by  which  the  rule  can  be 
applied  advantageously  has  been  clearly  seen. 

The  time  is  rapidly  coming  when  the  community  will 
assert  its  rights  to  perpetual  peace,  and  so  bring  to  bear 
upon  all  parties  engaged  in  industry  a  great  moral  influ- 
ence which  will  secure  all  the  benefits  of  voluntary  arbi- 
tration and  render  the  resort  to  any  compulsory  measures 
unnecessary.  Such  time  will  come  only  when  the  power 
of  moral  forces  is  recognized  as  essential  in  the  develop- 
ment and  evolution  of  economic  forces. 

There  are  many  other  directions  in  which  legislation 
has  aided  in  establishing  the  status  of  the  wage-earner, 
but  the  illustrations  given  are  sufficient  to  show  intelli- 
gently the  wide  range  and  the  deep  significance  of  all 
such  enactments  and  the  tendency  to  the  passage  of  re- 
strictive laws  under  the  modern  system  of  industry, 
while  the  old  restrictive  laws  of  the  colonial  days  have 
entirely  or  nearly  passed  out  of  existence. 

Looking  broadly  now  to  the  labor  legislation  as  it  has 
occurred  in  this  country,  it  may  be  well  to  sum  up  its 
general  features.  Such  legislation  has  fixed  the  hours 
of  labor  for  women  and  certain  minors  in  manufacturing 
establishments  ;  it  has  adjusted  the  contracts  of  labor  ; 
it  has  protected  employees  by  insisting  that  all  danger- 
ous machinery,  hoistwavs,  etc.,  shall  be  guarded  ;  it  has 
prescribed    that   fire-escapes  in  factories  and  tenement 


292       Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 

houses  shall  be  erected  ;  it  has  prohibited  unsafe  ele- 
Summary  of        vators :    it   has    created    boards   of  factory    inspectors, 

labor  legis-  '  J  l  ' 

lation-  whose  powers  and  duties  have  added  much  to  the  health 

and  safety  of  operatives  ;  it  has  in  many  instances  pro- 
vided for  weekly  payments,  not  only  by  municipalities, 
but  by  corporations  ;  it  has  guarded  the  health  of 
women  employed  in  manufacturing,  mechanical,  and 
mercantile  establishments  by  requiring  seats  for  their 
use;  it  has  regulated  the  employment  of  prisoners  ;  pro- 
tected the  employment  of  children  ;  exempted  the  wages 
of  wife  and  minor  children  from  attachment  ;  established 
bureaus  of  statistics  of  labor  ;  provided  for  the  ventila- 
tion of  factories  and  workshops  ;  established  industrial 
schools  and  evening  schools  ;  provided  special  transpor- 
tation by  railroads  for  workingmen  ;  modified  the  com- 
mon-law rules  relative  to  the  liability  of  employers  for 
injuries  to  their  employees  ;  fixed  the  compensation  of 
railroad  corporations  for  negligently  causing  the  death 
of  employees,  and  has  provided  for  their  protection 
against  accident  and  death.  Under  it  factory  doors  can- 
not be  locked  during  working  hours  ;  it  has  established 
boards  of  arbitration  ;  it  has  regulated,  with  more  or  less 
success,  the  pernicious  custom  of  truck  stores,  and  it 
has  prohibited  the  employment  of  women  and  minors  in 
manufacturing  establishments  between  the  hours  of  ten 
o'clock  at  night  and  six  o'clock  in  the  morning.  All 
these  provisions  are  not  found  in  the  statutes  of  all  the 
states,  but  they  are  so  general  as  to  entitle  them  to  be 
considered  in  the  body  of  labor  legislation.* 

*  Cf.   Labor    Laws    of   Massachusetts,  Twenty-first  Annual  Report  of  the 
Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


LABOR    CONTROVERSIES. 


A  strike  occurs  when  the  employees  of  an  establish- 
ment refuse  to  work  unless  the  management  complies 
with  some  demand  made  upon  it.  A  lockout  occurs 
when  the  management  refuses  to  allow  the  employees  to 
work  unless  they  will  work  under  some  condition  dictated 
by  the  management  and  which  is  opposed  by  the  work- 
men. In  effect,  strikes  and  lockouts  are  practically  the 
same  thing,  the  disturbances  originating  with  one  side 
or  the  other  in  the  case  and  taking  their  name  accord- 
ingly. The  strike  is  not  a  method  belonging  exclusively 
to  the  modern  system  of  industry,  for  it  has  occurred  at 
various  times  in  the  history  of  the  world,  wherever  the 
relation  of  employer  and  employee  has  existed.  In 
ancient  times  the  strike  was  usually  a  practical  insurrec- 
tion or  rebellion,  during  which  many  lives  were  lost  and 
sometimes  governments  overthrown.*  Occasionally, 
along  through  the  course  of  history,  labor  riots  and  re- 
volts are  chronicled.  As  a  general  method,  however,  for 
enforcing  demands  and  for  obtaining  redress  of  real  or 
fancied  grievances  the  strike  has  only  recently  assumed 
much  importance,  and  only  isolated  cases  are  reported  in 
our  own  country  before  the  dawn  of  the  present  century. 
The  first  recourse  to  the  strike  in  this  country  occurred 
in  1 741,  when  a  combined  strike  of  journeymen  bakrrs 
occurred  in   New  York  City.      An  information  was  filed 

*  For  an  account  ofsucfa  insurrections  see  "  The  Ancient  Lowly,"  by  C.  Os- 
borne Ward.     Washington,  I).  C,  1891. 

293 


Strikes. 


Lockouts. 


1-  11st  strike  in 
the  United 

States. 


294      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


"  Turnout  "  in 
Philadelphia  in 
1796. 


First  notable 
strike  in  this 
century. 


against  the  strikers  for  conspiracy  not  to  bake  until  their 
wages  were  raised.  On  this  they  were  tried  and  con- 
victed, but  so  far  as  anything  can  be  learned  it  does  not 
appear  that  any  sentence  was  ever  passed.  This  strike 
may  have  occurred  in  1740,  but  reference  to  it  gives  the 
year  1741  as  that  in  which  the  information  was  preferred 
against  the  bakers.* 

There  was  an  association  of  journeymen  shoemakers 
in  Philadelphia  as  early  as  1792,  and  in  May,  1796,  a 
strike,  or  "turnout,"  was  ordered  by  that  organization 
for  the  purpose  of  securing  an  increase  of  wages,  in  which 
the  strikers  were  successful.  Another  turnout  was  or- 
dered by  the  shoemakers  of  Philadelphia  in  1798.  This 
strike  was  also  for  an  increase  of  wages,  and  was  success- 
ful. The  next  year  (1799)  the  shoemakers  turned  out 
to  resist  a  movement  made  by  the  master  cordwainers  of 
Philadelphia  for  a  reduction  of  wages.  The  strike  lasted 
about  ten  weeks  and  was  only  partially  successful. 

These  four  strikes  are  the  only  ones  to  which  any  ref- 
erence can  be  found  that  occurred  in  this  country  prior  to 
the  present  century.  The  condition  of  industry  generally 
during  the  colonial  days  was  not  conducive  to  strikes. 
The  factory  system  had  not  taken  deep  root,  masters  and 
men  worked  together,  and  so  there  was  no  opportunity 
for  concerted  action.  Where  two  or  three,  or  perhaps 
half  a  dozen,  men  were  employed  in  one  shop  they  were 
in  such  close  relations  to  the  employer  and  on  such  neigh- 
borly and  domestic  terms  with  him  that  differences,  when 
occurring,  were  mutually  adjusted  after  an  exchange  of 
views  ;  so  there  was  no  soil  for  the  growth  of  the  strike. 

The  first  notable  strike  in  this  century  occurred  in  No- 
vember, 1803,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  is  commonly 


*  See  "  Trial  of  the  Journeymen  Cordwainers  of  the  City  of  New  York." 
New  York,  1810. 


'  Sailors' 


Labor  Controversies.  295 

known  as  the  "Sailors'  strike."  This  strike  has  been 
generally  considered  the  first  one  occurring  in  the  United  |^e  not  the 
States,  but  recent  investigations  have  developed  those 
just  mentioned.  The  sailors  in  New  York  at  the  time 
named  (November,  1803)  had  been  receiving  ten  dollars 
per  month.  They  demanded  an  increase  to  fourteen  dol- 
lars. In  carrying  out  their  purpose  they  formed  in  a 
body,  marched  through  the  city,  and  compelled  other  sea- 
men who  were  employed  at  the  old  rates  to  leave  their 
ships  and  join  the  strike.  The  strikers  were  pursued  and 
dispersed  by  the  constables,  who  arrested  their  leader 
and  lodged  him  in  jail,  the  strike  thus  terminating  unsuc- 
cessfully.* 

In  1805  the  Journeymen  Shoemakers'  Association  of  strike  in  1805  at 
Philadelphia  again  turned  out  for  an  increase  of  wages.  Pn 
The  demands  ranged  from  twenty-five  to  seventy-five 
cents  per  pair  increase.  This  strike  lasted  six  or  seven 
weeks,  and  was  unsuccessful.  The  strikers  were  tried 
for  conspiracy,  the  result  of  the  trial  being  published  in 
a  pamphlet  which  appeared  in  i8o6.f 

In  1809  a  strike  among  the  cordwainers  occurred  in  in  1809  at  New 
the  city  of  New  York.  The  proprietors  quietly  took 
their  work  to  other  shops,  and  by  this  stratagem  defeated 
the  strikers  ;  but  the  action  being  discovered,  a  general 
turnout  was  ordered  by  the  Journeymen  Cordwainers' 
Association  against  all  the  master  workmen  of  the  city, 
nearly  two  hundred  men  being  engaged  in  the  strike. 
This  general  turnout  was  in  November,  1809.  At  that 
time  a  stoppage  of  work  in  one  shop  by  the  journeymen 


York. 


*  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  New  Jersey,  1885.  See  also  J.  B.  Mr- 
Master:  "  History  of  the Peopleof  theUniti'l  Stiius,"  Vol.  11.  Mi.  Mi  Master 
states  that  the  strike  occurred  in  October,  1802.  It  is  believed,  however,  that 
the  date  given  in  the  text  is  the  correct  one. 

t  Lloyd  :  "Trial  of  the  Boot  and  Shoemakers  of  Philadelphia."  The  re- 
port of  this  famous  trial  can  be  found  in  the  United  States  Supreme  Court 
Library. 


296       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 

was  called  a  "strike"  ;  a  general  stoppage  in  all  shops 
in  a  trade  was  known  as  a  "general  turnout."  A  mem- 
ber of  a  journeymen's  association  who  did  not  keep  his 
obligations  to  the  organization  was  denominated  a 
"scab."* 

In  18 1 5  some  of  the  journeymen  cordwainers  of  Pitts- 
in  iSisat  burer,  Pa.,  were  tried  for  conspiracy  on  account  of  their 

Pittsburg.  &»  >  r  J 

connection  with  a  strike,  and  were  convicted. 

In  18 1 7  a  peculiar  labor  difficulty  occurred  at  Med- 
in  1817  at  Med-  forci     Mass.     Thacher    Magoun,   a  shipbuilder  of  that 

ford,  Mass.  °  r 

town,  determined  to  abolish  the  grog  privilege  customary 
at  that  time.  Mr.  Magoun  gave  notice  to  his  people 
that  no  liquor  should  be  used  in  his  shipyard,  and  the 
words  ' '  No  rum  /  no  rum  ! ' '  were  written  on  the  clap- 
boards of  the  workshop  and  on  the  timbers  in  the  yard. 
Some  of  Mr.  Magoun' s  men  refused  to  work,  but  they 
finally  surrendered,  and  a  ship  was  built  without  the  use 
of  liquor  in  any  form.f 
Fromi82ito  The    period    from    1821    to    1834   witnessed   several 

l834-  strikes,  but  rarely  more  than  one  or  two  in  each  year. 

These  strikes  occurred  among  the  compositors,  hatters, 
ship  carpenters  and  calkers,  journeymen  tailors,  laborers 
on  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal,  the  building  trades, 
factory  workers,  shoemakers,  and  others.  One  of  the 
most  notable  of  these,  for  its  influence  upon  succeeding 
labor  movements,  occurred  in  1834,  in  the  city  of  Lynn, 
Mass.  During  the  latter  part  of  the  preceding  year  the 
female  shoebinders  of  that  town  began  to  agitate  the 
question  of  an  increase  of  wages.  The  women  engaged 
in  this  work  usually  took  the  material  to  their  homes. 
The  manufacturers  were  unwilling  to  increase  the  prices 
paid  ;  so  a  meeting  for  consultation  was  held  by  more 


*  The  People  vs.  Melvin  and  others,  Wheeler's  "  Criminal  Cases,"  Vol.  II. 
t  McNeill :    "  The  Labor  Movement." 


Labor  Controversies.  297 


Increase  <>f 


than  one  thousand  binders.  This  was  January  1,  1834. 
The  binders  resolved  to  take  out  no  more  work  unless 
the  increase  was  granted.  The  employers,  however, 
steadily  refused  to  accede  to  the  demands,  and  finding 
no  difficulty  in  having  their  work  done  in  neighboring 
towns  at  their  own  prices,  the  strike,  after  three  or  four 
weeks,  came  to  an  unsuccessful  termination. 

In  February  of  the  same  year  a  disturbance  of  short 
duration  occurred  at  Lowell,  Mass.,  among  the  female 
factory  operatives.  Their  strike  was  to  prevent  a  reduc- 
tion of  wages. 

During  the  year  1835  there  was  a  large  number  of 
strikes  throughout  the  country,  instigated  by  both  men  strikes  after 
and  women.  The  number  of  strikes  by  employees  who 
desired  some  concessions  regarding  their  wages  or  were 
otherwise  dissatisfied  with  the  conditions  under  which 
they  were  working  had  at  this  time  become  so  numerous 
as  to  call  forth  remonstrant  comments  from  the  public 
press,  the  New  York  Daily  Advertiser  of  June  6,  1835, 
declaring  that  "strikes  are  all  the  fashion,"  and,  further, 
"It  is  an  excellent  time  for  the  journeymen  to  come 
from  the  country  to  this  city. ' '  From  that  period  ( 1 835) 
to  the  present  time  strikes  have  been  common,  often  ex- 
pensive, and  sometimes  destructive  of  much  property. 

A  detailed  account  of  strikes  is  nut  necessary  to  illus- 
trate the  general  tendency.  As  a  rule,  they  have  been  |SS,,t"1 
for  an  increase  or  against  a  reduction  of  wages.  An  in- 
vestigation conducted  by  the  United  States  Department 
of  Labor  of  all  strikes  occurring  in  the  country  from  1881 
to  1886,  inclusive  (six  years),  shows  that  during  that 
period  3,902  strikes  occurred,  affecting  22,304  establish- 
ments, the  whole  number  of  employees  striking  and  in- 
volved in  these  disturbances  being  1,323,203.  In  the  year 
1880,  as  shown  by  Mr.  Joseph  I).  Weeks,  in  his  excellent 


Strikes  from 


298      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 

report  to  the  United  States  census  for  that  year,  there  were 
610  strikes,  the  estimated  number  of  establishments  in- 

stdkes  in  1887.  volved  being  3,477.  In  1887,  the  year  after  the  investi- 
gation by  the  United  States  Department  of  Labor  re- 
ferred to,  according  to  information  gathered  from  trade 
papers,  etc.,  there  were  853  strikes,  the  number  of 
establishments  involved  being  estimated  at  4,862. 

Taking  these  accounts  for  the  years  from  1880  to  1887, 
we  find  that  in  the  first  year  named  3,477  establishments 
were  affected  by  strikes,  and  that  the  number  dropped 
in  1 88 1  to  2,928,  and  to  a  still  lower  point  in  1882,  when 
the  whole  number  of  establishments  affected  was  but 
2,105.  In  J883  the  number  rose  again,  coming  very 
near  that  of  1881,  or  2,759.  In  1884  there  was  a  de- 
crease, the  number  being  2,367,  while  in  1885  the  num- 
ber of  establishments  subjected  to  strikes  was  smaller 
than  in  any  of  the  years  named  except  1882,  it  being  in 
1885  2,284.  Eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-six,  how- 
ever, was  a  prolific  year,  the  whole  number  of  establish- 
ments affected  by  strikes  being  9,861.  The  next  year 
there  was  a  decrease  to  about  5,000.     The  best  informa- 

n7\Ts6.g~point  tion  shows  that  the  year  1886  was  a  turning-point  for 
several  years.  The  figures  are  not  at  hand,  but  the  best 
estimates  and  calculations  made  from  various  reports  in- 
dicate that  the  number  of  establishments  affected  by 
strikes  constantly  decreased  until  within  two  years,  dur- 
ing which  time  they  have  been  rapidly  on  the  increase. 
Official  investigations  now  going  on  will  determine  the 
number.  During  the  period  from  18S1  to  1886  the  num- 
ber of  establishments  involved,  either  by  strikes  or  lock- 
outs, was  highest  in  the  states  of  New  York,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Massachusetts,  Ohio,  and  Illinois,  these  five  states 
contributing  nearly  75  per  cent  of  all  the  establishments 
in  the  country  affected  by  strikes  and  nearly  89.5  per 


of 

kts. 


Labor  Controversies.  299 

cent  of  all  the  establishments  in  the  country  affected  by 
lockouts.  These  five  states,  at  the  period  named,  con- 
tained nearly  50  per  cent  of  all  the  manufacturing  estab- 
lishments and  employed  58  per  cent  of  all  the  capital  in- 
vested in  the  mechanical  industries  of  the  United  States. 
Some  of  the  most  noted  strikes  which  have  occurred  in 
this  country  have  had  great  influence  upon  economic  af-  ^fjJF1?* 
fairs,  in  the  organization  of  laborers,  in  calling  attention 
to  the  relations  of  employers  and  employees,  and  in 
various  other  directions.  During  the  period  from  1881 
to  1886,  as  has  been  stated,  1,323,203  employees  were 
involved.  Of  this  number  88.42  per  cent  were  males  and 
1 1.58  per  cent  females.  The  number  of  successful  strikes 
during  that  period  was  46.52  per  cent,  while  39.95  per 
cent  failed,  and  13.47  per  ccnt  succeeded  partially.  A 
large  number  of  the  strikes  and  lockouts  occurring  dur- 
ing the  years  named  were  by  organizations,  the  percent- 
age  beinof  82.24  of  the  whole.     The  causes  for  which   Causes  of 

0  °  '  majority  of 

strikes  were  undertaken  were  mostly  for  an  increase  or  strikes, 
against  a  reduction  of  wages,  four  leading  causes  cover- 
ing over  77  per  cent  of  them  all.  These  were  for  in- 
crease of  wages,  for  reduction  of  hours,  against  reduction 
of  wages,  and  for  increase  of  wages  and  reduction  of 
hours. 

The  losses  in  strikes  are  enormous,  as  shown   by  the   .         , 

Loss. 

record  of  those  to  which  reference  has  been  made,  when  s,,lk 
the  strikers  alone  lost  $51,814,723.  The  loss  to  em- 
ployees through  lockouts  for  the  same  time  was  $8, 157. 
717,  making  a  total  wage  loss  of  nearly  $60,000,000; 
the  employers'  losses  for  the  same  strikes  and  lockouts 
were  over  $34,000,000 — a  series  <»f  disturbances  repre- 
senting a  loss  of  over  $94,000,000  in  a  brief  period  of 
six  years.  No  statement  could  more  thoroughly  exhibit 
the  wastefulness  of  a  method  than  do  these  figures.      But 


3<x>      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 

no  facts  can  ever  be  ascertained  and  no  estimate  formed 
General  losses     concerning-  the  losses  to  individuals  indirectly  related  to 

not  ascertain-  ... 

able.  establishments  in  which  strikes  or  lockouts  have  occurred. 

Their  indirect  effect  on  the  great  commercial  interests  of 
the  country  can  be  referred  to  only  in  general  terms. 


RmiIim.iiI 


('.Ills.  -.. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

HISTORIC    STRIKES. 

Since  1877  some  historic  strikes  have  occurred — 
strikes  from  which  influences  have  been  felt  in  various  di- 
rections and  far  beyond  the  parties  engaged  in  the  par- 
ticular controversies. 

The  first  of  these  great  historic  strikes  occurred  in 
1877,  although  many  very  severe  strikes  had  taken  place  sl"k'*"'1  ''""■ 
prior  to  that  year.  The  great  railroad  strikes  of  1877 
began  on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  at  Martins-  SSreMrfOhio. 
burgh,  W.  Va.,  the  immediate  cause  of  the  first  strike 
being  a  ten  per  cent  reduction  in  the  wages  of  all  employ 
ees.  This,  however,  was  but  one  of  many  grievances.  The 
wages,  already  low,  were  made  yet  lower  by  irregular 
employment.  Men  with  families  were  permitted  to  work 
only  three  or  four  days  per  week,  and  two  or  three  days 
each  week  they  were  forced  to  spend  away  from  home, 
at  their  own  expense,  often  being  obliged  to  pay  one 
dollar  per  day  for  board  at  the  company's  hotel,  leaving 
them  but  little  money  for  domestic  use.  The  wages, 
payable  monthly,  were  often  retained  two,  three,  <>r  even 
four  months.  The  tonnage  of  trains  was  increased,  and 
the  men  were  paid  only  for  the  number  of  miles  run,  ir- 
respective of  the  time  consumed  in  running.  In  most 
instances  the  strike  affected  only  the  freight  trains. 
There  was  rioting,  destruction  of  property,  and  loss  of 
life  at  Martinsburgh,  Baltimore,  and  various  places  in 
Pennsylvania.     The  state  militia  at  Martinsburgh  and 

301 


302      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   I  Tnited  Stales. 


The  great 
strike  at  Pitts- 
burg in  1877  on 
the  Pennsyl- 


Events  leading 
to  it. 


Pittsburg,  sympathizing  with  the  strikers,  affiliated  with 
them  and  refused  to  fire  upon  them.  The  United  States 
troops  were  promptly  ordered  from  the  eastern  garrisons, 
and  on  their  appearance  the  mobs  fled.  In  Cincinnati, 
Toledo,  and  St.  Louis  mobs  of  roughs  and  tramps  col- 
lected and  succeeded  in  closing  most  of  the  shops,  fac- 
tories, and  rolling-mills  in  those  cities.  In  Chicago  the 
communists  made  formidable  demonstrations.  In  those 
places,  and  in  Syracuse,  Buffalo,  West  Albany,  and  Hor- 
nellsville,  N.  Y. ,  the  mobs  were  dispersed  by  the  state 
militia  without  violence  or  destruction  of  property. 

The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  also  had  a  mem- 
orable strike  accompanied  by  riots  and  much  violence 
and  destruction  of  property.  Some  time  after  the  panic 
of  1873  this  road  reduced  the  wages  of  its  employees 
ten  per  cent,  and  on  account  of  the  general  decline  in 
business  made  another  reduction  often  per  cent  in  June, 
1877.  The  employees  of  the  different  roads  having 
their  termini  at  Pittsburg  commenced  agitating  the  ques- 
tion of  a  strike  on  account  of  these  reductions,  which 
agitation  resulted  in  the  formation  of  a  "Trainmen's 
Union."  Through  the  agency  of  this  organization  a 
general  strike  was  arranged  to  take  place  at  noon  on 
June  27,  1877, on  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  the  Pitts- 
burg, Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  Railroad,  the  Allegheny 
Valley  Railroad,  the  Pan  Handle  Railroad,  and  the 
branches  of  these  roads.  The  movements  of  the  gen- 
eral strike  were  to  be  directed  from  Allegheny  City.  On 
the  24th  of  June  about  forty  members  of  the  union  were 
sent  out  to  notify  others  on  the  different  roads  of  the 
time  when  the  strike  was  to  take  place,  and  on  the  night 
of  June  25,  at  a  meeting  of  the  members  of  the  union 
of  the  Pan  Handle  division,  it  was  developed  that  a  por- 
tion of  them  were  dissatisfied  with  the  proposed  strike, 


Historic  Strikes.  303 


and  also  that  some  member  or  members  had  divulged 
the  plans  of  the  union  to  the  railroad  authorities.  In 
view  of  these  facts,  measures  were  at  once  taken  to  pre- 
vent the  strike,  word  being  sent  to  all  points  possible  to 
be  reached  in  the  short  time  left. 

The  members  of  the  union  felt  that  they  had  met 
with  defeat,  and  this  left  them  very  much  dissatisfied. 
But  the  great  strike  of  July  19,  at  Pittsburg,  was  not  a  Special  cause. 
strike  of  the  Trainmen's  Union,  nor  did  this  union,  as 
an  organization,  have  anything  to  do  with  either  that 
strike  or  the  one  of  July  16,  on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad,  at  Martinsburgh.  Early  in  July  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad  issued  an  order  that  all  freight  trains  from 
Pittsburg  east  to  Derry  should  be  run  as  ' '  double-head- 
ers," the  order  to  take  effect  July  19.  A  "double- 
header"  consists  of  thirty-four  cars,  and  is  hauled  by 
two  engines,  a  plan  which  had  the  effect  of  enabling  the 
company  to  dispense  with  the  services  of  one  half  of 
their  freight  conductors,  brakemen,  and  flagmen  on  the 
Pittsburg  division  of  the  road.  On  the  morning  of  July  19 
several  early  trains  left  Pittsburg  as  "double-headers," 
but  when  the  time  arrived  for  the  8 :\o  a.  m.  train  to  leave, 
the  men,  consisting  of  two  brakemen  and  one  flagman, 
refused  to  go  out  on  a  "  double-header,"  and  the  train  "rfc^bu?*0 
did  not  leave  the  yard.  The  dispatcher  made  up  two  hcailc,s- 
crews  from  the  yardmen,  as  none  of  the  regular  trainmen 
would  take  their  places,  but  the  strikers  threw  coupling- 
pins,  etc.,  at  these  men  as  they  were  endeavoring  to 
make  up  the  train,  and  so  they  were  forced  to  desist. 
The  strikers  numbered  only  twenty  or  twenty-five  nun, 
but  they  took  possession  of  the  switches  over  which  the 
trains  would  have  to  move,  and  refused  to  let  any  trains 
pass  out.  Their  numbers  increased  gradually,  men  who 
came  in  on  freight  trains  and  others  being  induced  to 


304      Industrial  Evolution  of  tlic   United  States. 


Rioting  and 
violence. 


Attempts  to 
move  trains 
abandoned. 


join  the  strikers.  By  midnight  of  the  19th  the  crowd  of 
strikers  and  sympathizers  had  increased  to  several 
hundreds. 

The  story  of  this  great  strike  is  a  long  one.  The 
sheriff  of  the  county  could  not  persuade  the  crowd  to 
disperse,  and  the  governor  of  the  state  of  Pennsylvania 
was  called  upon  for  troops,  the  military  authorities  sending 
three  regiments  of  infantry  and  a  battery  of  artillery  to 
Pittsburg.  The  strikers  increased  in  number,  mobs  gath- 
ered, and  it  is  estimated  that  on  the  20th  there  were  four 
or  five  thousand  men  in  the  vicinity  of  the  station.  Here 
were  all  the  elements  for  a  disastrous  experience.  On 
the  2 1st  rioting  began,  and  while  the  troops  were  get- 
ting into  position  many  of  the  guns  of  the  militia  were 
seized  and  bayonets  twisted  off.  The  troops  made  no 
impression  upon  the  crowd.  The  mob  grew  more  noisy, 
defiant,  and  boisterous,  and  stones  and  other  missiles 
were  thrown  at  the  troops.  Pistol  shots  were  fired  by 
the  crowd  and  the  troops  fired  on  the  mob.  Several 
persons  were  killed  and  wounded,  inquests  being  held  on 
twenty-two  persons  in  all,  most  of  whom  were  killed  by 
the  soldiers  at  Twenty-eighth  Street.  The  firing,  when 
it  became  regular,  dispersed  the  crowd,  which  fled  in  all 
directions  and  left  the  troops  in  possession  of  the  ground. 
But  after  a  few  hours,  all  attempts  to  move  trains  being 
abandoned  and  the  troops  needing  rest  and  food,  the 
mob  came  together  again,  and  having  obtained  arms  by 
breaking  into  two  or  three  gun  stores,  began,  soon  after 
dark,  to  fire  upon  the  roundhouse  and  machine-shops 
and  in  at  the  windows  at  any  soldiers  who  might  be 
inside,  and  later,  fire  was  set  to  cars  on  the  adjoining 
tracks,  the  mob  running  the  burning  cars  down  the  track 
nearest  the  roundhouse,  to  set  it  on  fire,  if  possible. 

On  the  morning  of  the  2  2d  of  July  the  mob  obtained 


Historic  Strikes.  305 


possession  of  a  field-piece  and  was  ready  to  fire  on  the 
roundhouse,  but  the  military  officers  notified  the  strikers 
that  if  they  attempted  to  discharge  the  piece  they  would 
be  fired  upon  in  turn.  They  paid  no  attention  to  the 
warning,  and  when  one  of  them  was  seen  with  the 
lanyard  in  his  hand,  ready  to  discharge  the  cannon,  they 
were  fired  upon  by  the  troops,  and  several  of  the  mob 
fell,  the  rest  dispersing.  Later  Gatling  guns  were  UseofGatling 
brought  into  action,  and  the  sight  of  them  scattered  the 
mob.  These  attacks  and  counter  attacks,  the  gathering 
and  dispersing  of  the  mob,  and  the  firing  of  trains  were 
kept  up  until  Monday,  the  22d,  as  stated,  when  two 
regiments  were  marched  through  the  principal  streets  of 
the  city  of  Pittsburg  for  the  purpose  of  overawing  any 
disposition  toward  riotous  conduct  which  might  still  ex- 
ist. A  citizens'  committee  was  also  organized  during  Citizens' 
,  ,~,        .  ii-  •  1  committee. 

the  previous  Sunday,  and  this  committee  exerted  con- 
siderable influence  in  quelling  disturbances.  Neverthe- 
less, cars  were  set  on  fire  and  attempts  were  made  to 
fire  the  station  ;  but  members  of  the  citizens'  safety  com- 
mittee interfered  and  put  a  stop  to  the  destruction.  This 
was.  about  the  last  attempt  at  violence  at  Pittsburg, 
although  it  was  several  days  before  order  was  fully  re- 
stored. 

From  the  very  beginning  of  the  strike  the  strikers  had 
the  active  sympathy  of  a  vast  proportion  of  the  people 

of  Pittsburg.      About    1,600    cars    (mostly  freight),  in-    Damaj 

1    ,  •  1  1       c    1  resulting  from 

eluding  passenger  and  baggage  cars,  with   such  oJ  their  str,ko. 

contents  as  were  not  carried  away  by  thieves,  126  loco- 
motives, and  all  the  shops'  materials  and  buildings,  ex- 
cept one  or  two  small  ones,  of  the  railroad  company, 
from  above  Twenty-eighth  Street  to  the  union  station, 
were  burned  on  Saturday  night  and  Sunday.  Tin-  tracks 
from   the    union   station,    out    to    and    beyond    Twenty- 


306      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 

eighth  Street,  were  nearly  all  ruined  by  fire,  the  rails  be- 
ing warped  and  twisted  and  the  ties  burned.  It  has  been 
estimated  by  competent  persons  that  the  damage,  in- 
cluding loss  of  property  and  loss  of  business  consequent 
upon  its  interruption,  which  was   inflicted  by  the  mob  at 

Loss  of  railroad  Pittsburg  amounted  to  $5,000,000.  The  actual  loss  of 
the  railroad  company  alone,  not  including  the  freight 
they  were  transporting,  has  been  estimated  at  $2,000,- 
000.  It  is  impossible  to  state  the  number  of  men  thrown 
out  of  employment,  in  the  aggregate,  by  these  strikes, 
nor  the  total  value  of  the  property  destroyed  through 
the  resulting  riots,  but  the  chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Indus- 
trial Statistics  of  Pennsylvania,  in  his  report  for  1880-81, 
makes  the  following  statement  concerning  the  cost  of  the 
Pittsburg  riot  :  Total  amount  of  claims  as  presented  to 
Allegheny  County,  the  courts  having  decreed  that  that 
county  was  liable  for  all  the  losses  sustained  through  the 
riots,  $3,592,789.33  ;  total  amount  actually  paid  by  com- 
promise and  judgments  at  the  date  of  the  report  named, 
$2,765,891.89. 

The  whole  country  was  greatly  excited  during  and  after 
these  strikes.  The  question  was  constantly  asked,  How 
can  such  affairs  be  prevented  or  the  causes  leading  to 
them  removed  ?     They  were  both  unsuccessful. 

The  next  great  strike  was  that  of  the  telegraphers, 

strik^ofiss"  which  occurred  in  the  year  1883.  There  were  involved 
in  this  strike  the  majority  of  the  commercial  telegraph 
operators  of  the  entire  country.  It  extended  to  the  line- 
men of  the  commercial  companies,  and  then  to  a  few 
railroad  operators  ;  but  the  information  relative  to  the 
facts  is  meager.  This  strike  took  place  to  secure  the 
abolition  of  Sunday  work  without  extra  pay,  the  reduc- 
tion of  day  turns  to  eight  hours,  and  the  equalization  of 
pay  between  the  sexes  for  the  same  work.     The  opera- 


Historic  Strikes.  307 

tors  also  demanded  a  universal  increase  of  wages.  The 
strike  commenced  July  19  and  ended  August  23,  1883, 
although  it  was  declared  off  on  the  17th  of  August.  It 
was  unsuccessful,  the  loss  to  employees  being  $250,000,  Not  successful, 
while  they  expended  $62,000  in  assistance  to  destitute 
fellow-operators.  The  employers  lost  nearly  $1,000,000. 
The  whole  number  of  persons  involved  in  the  strike  was 
6,270.  One  of  the  companies  made  a  provisional  agree- 
ment with  the  Brotherhood  of  Telegraphers,  and  in  ac- 
cordance therewith  resumed  business.  As  the  other  com- 
panies were  resisting  the  strike,  the  company  which  made 
this  agreement  secured  a  handsome  profit  on  account  of 
the  increased  volume  of  business  brought  to  it. 

Another  of  what  have  been  called  "  historic  "  strikes  strike  on 
was  that  on  the  Southwestern  or  Gould  system  of  rail- 
ways, which  occurred  in  the  years  1885-86.  The  first 
of  the  strikes  on  this  system  took  place  in  March,  1885. 
At  this  time  and  during  the  months  preceding,  the  shop- 
men on  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad  in  Missouri,  Kan- 
sas, and  Texas  became  very  much  dissatisfied  with  the 
wages  they  were  receiving,  and  about  March  9  nearly 
four  thousand  of  them  struck  for  a  restoration  of  the 
wages  paid  the  preceding  September,  since  which  date 
reductions  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  from  ten  to  fif- 
teen per  cent  had  taken  place.  The  strike  was  begun  at 
Sedalia,  Mo.,  March  7,  1885,  and  in  two  days  became 
general  all  over  the  system,  and  during  its  continuance 
freight  traffic  was  virtually  suspended.  The  strike-  came  JnTofstftfe. 
to  an  end,  however,  on  the  16th  of  March,  1885,  at  ten 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  on  the  next  day,  the 
17th,  work  was  generally  resumed.  This  result  was 
brought  about  very  largely  through  tin-  efforts  <>f  tin- 
governors  of  Missouri  and  Kansas  and  other  State  officials 
upon  this  basis  :    "  The  company  agreed  t<>  restore  to  its 


308      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Basis  of  settle- 
ment. 


Second  strike 
on  Gould 
system,  18S6. 


Causes 
therefor. 


striking  employees  .  .  .  the  same  wages  paid  them 
in  September,  1SS4,  including  one  and  one  half  price  for 
extra  time  work,  and  to  restore  all  of  said  employees  to 
their  several  employments  without  prejudice  to  them  on 
account  of  the  strike. ' '  The  company,  on  its  part,  also 
agreed,  and  voluntarily,  that  "hereafter  said  rates  will 
not  be  changed  except  after  thirty  days'  notice  thereof, 
given  in  the  usual  way."  The  strikers  in  this  affair  very 
generally  had  the  sympathy  and  moral  support  of  the 
public,  for  it  was  conceded  on  all  sides,  with  few  excep- 
tions, that  the  employees  had  justice  and  right  with  them. 
This  concession  was  because  of  the  fact  that  the  reduc- 
tions of  wages  complained  of  were  made  at  times  when 
there  was  no  corresponding  decrease  in  the  business  or 
earnings  of  the  company. 

The  second  strike  on  the  Gould  system  took  place  in 
March,  1886,  a  year  later  than  that  just  recited.  The 
trouble  began  at  Marshall,  Texas,  on  the  Texas  and  Pa- 
cific Railroad,  and  grew  out  of  the  discharge  of  the  fore- 
man for  alleged  incompetency.  This  foreman  was  prom- 
inent in  the  local  assembly  of  the  Knights  of  Labor, 
which  order  subsequently  inaugurated  the  great  railroad 
strike,  the  discharge  of  the  foreman  being  the  alleged 
cause.  The  claim  was  made  that  the  discharge  of  the 
foreman  in  this  way  was  in  violation  of  the  agreement  of 
March,  1885,  made  at  the  settlement  of  the  strike  through 
the  influence  of  the  governors  of  Missouri  and  Kansas, 
as  just  stated.  Other  violations  were  also  claimed.  Dur- 
ing the  entire  month  of  March  all  freight  traffic  was  vir- 
tually suspended  on  the  roads  involved,  and  about  ten 
thousand  men  were  out  of  work,  nearly  all  being  strikers. 
On  March  28  the  strike  was  declared  off,  and  the  hope 
was  entertained  that  negotiations  would  be  perfected  be- 
tween the  officers  of  the  roads  and  the  representatives  of 


Historic  Strikes.  309 


the  employees  ;  but  the  railroad  officials  declined  to  trr.it 
with  the  men,  except  individually,  and  on  the  5th  of 
April  the  order  declaring  the  strike  at  an  end  was  re- 
voked. The  backbone  of  the  strike  was  broken  by  that 
time,  however,  and  traffic  was  resumed,  but  under  police 
protection  for  a  time.     Many  of  the  men  had  returned  to    ' 

.  .  .  .  .  result  <>t  strike 

work,  while  new  men  in  sufficient  numbers  to  carry  on  "' 
the  traffic  assumed  the  places  of  those  who  were  still  out. 
While  the  strike  of  March,  1885,  was,  as  stated,  gener- 
ally considered  to  be  a  just  one,  that  of  March,  1886, 
was  regarded  as  ill  judged,  no  adequate  cause  existing 
therefor.  The  disastrous  result  and  the  lack  of  public 
sympathy  displayed  for  the  strikers  bring  the  two  strikes 
into  sharp  contrast. 

At  Homestead,   Pa.,  in  July,  1892,  there  occurred  a 
most  serious  affair  between  the  Carnegie  Steel  Company  strike.  1893. 
and  its  employees,  at  what  is  known  as  the  Homestead 
works,  growing  out  of  a  disagreement  in  the  previous 
month  in  regard  to  wages.     The  parties  were  unable  to 
come  to  an  agreement  that  was  mutually  satisfactory, 
and  the  company  closed  its  works  on  the  30th  day  ■>! 
June  and  discharged  its  men.      Only  a  small    portion 
of  the  men  were  affected  by  the  proposed  adjustment  of 
wages.     The  larger  portion  of  them,  who  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Amalgamated  Association  of  Iron  and  Steel 
Workers,  were  not  affected  at  all,  nor  was  tin-  large  force 
of  employees,   some  three   thousand  in   number,    who 
were  not  members  of  that  association.     The  company 
refused  to  recognize  the   Amalgamated    Association  of 
Iron  and  Steel  Workers  as  an  organization,  or  to  hold 
any  conference  with  its  representatives.     Upon  the  fail- 
ure to  arrive  at  an  adjustment  of  the  wage  difficulty,  the   ,,.,,,„,,.,,, 
company  proposed  to  operate  its  works  by  the  employ-    I";'.,1;,''/1" '"Ijust" 
ment  of  non-union  nun.      The  men,  who  could   not  se- 


Men  refused 
reduction  in 
wages. 


Action  of 
company. 


Men  offered  to 
act  as  deputies. 


Immediate 
cause  ol  the 
fighting. 


310      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   I  nited  States. 

cure  recognition,  refused  to  accept  the  reduced  rates  of 
wages  and  also  came  to  the  determination  that  they 
would  resist  the  company  in  every  attempt  to  secure 
non-union  workers. 

The  history  of  the  events  at  Homestead  shows  that 
the  lodges  composing  the  Amalgamated  Association  pro- 
ceeded to  organize  what  was  styled  an  "advisory  com- 
mittee," to  take  charge  of  affairs  for  the  strikers.  All 
employees  of  the  company  were  directed  to  break  their 
contracts  and  to  refuse  to  work  until  the  Amalgamated 
Association  was  recognized  and  its  terms  agreed  to. 

The  works  were  shut  down  two  days  prior  to  the  time 
provided  by  the  contract  under  which  the  men  were 
working,  and,  as  alleged,  because  the  workmen  had  seen 
fit  to  hang  the  president  of  the  company  in  effigy.  July 
5  the  officers  of  the  company  asked  the  sheriff  of  the 
county  to  appoint  deputies  to  protect  the  works  while 
they  carried  out  their  intention  of  making  repairs.  The 
employees,  on  their  part,  organized  to  defend  the  works 
against  what  they  called  encroachments  or  demands  to 
enter  ;  in  fact,  they  took  possession  of  the  Homestead 
steelworks.  When  the  sheriff's  men  approached,  the 
workmen,  who  were  assembled  in  force,  notified  them  to 
leave  the  place,  as  they  did  not  intend  to  create  any  dis- 
order, and  that  they  would  not  allow  any  damage  to  be 
done  to  the  property  of  the  company.  They  further 
offered  to  act  as  deputies,  an  offer  which  was  declined. 
The  advisory  committee,  which  had  been  able  to  pre- 
serve the  peace  thus  far,  dissolved  on  the  rejection  of 
their  offer  to  serve  as  deputies  and  conservators  of  the 
peace,  and  all  of  their  records  were  destroyed. 

The  immediate  cause  of  the  fighting  which  later  on 
took  place  at  Homestead  was  the  approach  of  a  body  of 
Pinkerton  detectives,  who  were  gathered  in  two  barges 


Historic  Strikes.  x\\ 


on  the  Ohio  River,  some  miles  below  the  works.  When 
the  Pinkertons  arrived  the  workmen  broke  through 
the  mill  fence,  intrenching  themselves  behind  steel 
billets,  and  made  all  preparations  to  resist  the  approach 
of  the  Pinkerton  barges,  and  they  resisted  all  attempts 
to  land,  the  result  being  a  fierce  battle,  brought  on 
by  a  heavy  volley  of  shots  from  the  strikers.  The 
Pinkertons  were  armed  with  Winchesters,  but  they  were 
obliged  to  land  and  ascend  the  embankment  single  file, 
and  so  were  soon  driven  back  to  the  boats,  suffering  se 
verely  from  the  fire  by  the  strikers.  Many  efforts  were 
made  to  land,  but  the  position  of  the  men  they  were  at- 
tacking, behind  their  breastworks  of  steel  rails  and  bil- 
lets, was  very  strong,  and  from  this  place  of  safe  refuge 
the  detectives  were  subjected  to  a  galling  fire.  This 
opening  battle  took  place  on  the  5th  of  July,  about  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  Mas  continued  in  a  desul- 
tory way  during  the  day.  It  was  renewed  the  following 
day.  A  brass  ten-pound  cannon  had  been  secured  by  Use  of  cannon, 
the  strikers  and  planted  so  as  to  command  the  barges 
moored  at  the  banks  of  the  river.  Another  force  of  one 
thousand  men  had  taken  up  a  position  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river,  where  they  protected  themselves,  and 
a  cannon  which  they  had  obtained,  by  a  breastwork  ol 
railroad  ties.  A  little  before  nine  o'clock  a  bombard 
ment  commenced,  the  cannon  being  turned  on  the  boats, 

and  the  firmer  was  kept  up  for  several  hours.     The  b<  tats 

,   ,       ,  ,       ,  •      •  1  a-     .       Utempts  to 

were  protected  byheuvv  steel   plates  inside  ;  so   efforts   bum  boats  used 

,  r.         1  tt  j  i-i    1,v  detectives. 

were  made  to  fire  them.     Hose  was  procured  ami  oil 

sprayed  on  the  decks  and  sides,  and  at  the  same  time 

many  barrels  of  oil  were  emptied  into  the  river  above 

the  mooring-plare,  the  purpose  being  to  ignite  it  and 

then  allow  it  to  float  against  the  boats.     Under  these 

combined  movements,  the  Pinkertons  were  obliged  to 


312        Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


Pinkertons 
obliged  to 
surrender. 


Troops  at 
Homestead. 


throw  out  a  flag  of  truce,  but  it  was  not  recognized  by 
the  strikers.  The  officers  of  the  Amalgamated  Associ- 
ation, however,  interfered,  and  a  surrender  of  the  de- 
tectives was  arranged.  It  was  agreed  that  they  should 
be  safely  guarded,  under  condition  that  they  left  their 
arms  and  ammunition,  and  having  no  alternative,  they 
accepted  the  terms.  Seven  had  been  killed  and  twenty 
or  thirty  wounded. 

On  the  ioth  of  July,  after  several  days'  correspond- 
ence with  the  state  authorities,  the  governor  sent  the  en- 
tire force  of  the  militia  of  the  state  to  Homestead.  On  the 
1 2th  the  troops  arrived,  the  town  was  placed  under  mar- 
tial law,  and  order  was  restored.  There  had  been  much 
looting,  clubbing,  and  stoning,  and  as  the  detectives, 
after  surrender,  passed  through  the  streets  they  were 
treated  with  great  abuse.  Eleven  workmen  and  specta- 
tors were  killed  in  the  fights. 

Congress  made  an  investigation  of  this  strike,  but  no 
legislative  action  was  ever  taken.  Some  indictments 
were  made  and  lawsuits  ensued.  The  mills  were  gradu- 
ally supplied  with  new  people,  but  the  strike  was  not  de- 
clared off  until  November  20,  1892.* 

The  Homestead  strike  must  be  considered  as  the 
bitterest  labor  war  occurring  in  this  country  prior  to 
that  which  took  place  at  Chicago  later  on,  in  1894. 


*  A  brief  but  very  excellent  account  of  this  strike  can  be  found  in  Appleton's 
"Annual  Cyclopedia,"  1892,  and  a  more  extended  account  appears  in  the  report 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Bureau  of  Industrial  Statistics  for  1892. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  CHICAGO   STRIKE,    I  894. —  BOYCOTTS. 

Probably  the  most  expensive  and  far-reaching  labor 

.  ,  The  Chicago 

controversy  which  can  properly  be  classed  among  the  strike 
historic  controversies  of  this  generation  was  the  Chicago 
strike  of  June  and  July,  1894.  Beginning  with  a  private 
strike  at  the  works  of  Pullman's  Palace  Car  Company  at 
Pullman,  a  suburb  of  Chicago,  it  ended  with  a  practical 
insurrection  of  the  labor  employed  on  the  principal  rail- 
roads radiating  from  Chicago  and  some  of  their  affiliated 
lines,  paralyzing  internal  commerce,  putting  the  public 
to  great  inconvenience,  delaying  the  mails,  and  in  gen- 
eral demoralizing  business.  Its  influences  were  felt  all 
over  the  country,  to  greater  or  less  extent,  according  to 
the  lines  of  traffic  and  the  courses  of  trade.  The  con- 
test was  not  limited  to  the  partieswith  whom  it  originated, 
for  soon  there  were  brought  into  it  two  other  factors  or 
forces. 

The  original  strike  grew  out  of  a  demand  of  certain 
employees  of  the  Pullman  Company,  in  May,  [894,  for  strike. 
a  restoration  of  the  wages  paid  during  the  previous  year. 
The  company  claimed  that  the  reduction  in  the  volume 
of  business,  owing  to  business  depression,  did  not  warrant 
the  payment  of  the  old  wages.  ( )n  account  of  the  increas<  d 
production  of  rolling-stock  to  meet  the  traffic  incident  to 
the  World's  Fair  in  1893,  orders  for  building  new  cars 
were  not  easily  obtainable,  a  large  portion  of  the  busi 
ness  of  the  Pullman  Company  being  contract  business  in 

313 


Origin  of  the 


314      Industrial  Evolution  of  tJic   I  Tnited  S/alcs. 


Grievances 
claimed  by 
men. 


Boycott  of 
Pullman  cars. 


Railway 

Managers' 

Association. 


the  way  of  building  cars  for  railroad  companies  gener- 
ally. This  state  of  affairs  resulted  in  a  partial  cessation 
of  car-building  everywhere  in  the  country,  the  Pullman 
Company  suffering  with  all  others.  The  demand  of  the 
employees,  therefore,  was  not  acceded  to,  and  on  May 
n,  1894,  a  strike  was  ordered.  Several  minor  griev- 
ances were  claimed  to  have  existed  and  to  have  led  to 
the  action  of  the  strikers,  who  had  joined  the  American 
Railway  Union,  an  association  of  railway  employees 
which  had  achieved  a  partial  success  in  a  contest  with  the 
Great  Northern  Railroad  a  few  weeks  previous  to  the 
Pullman  strike.  The  Railway  Union  espoused  the  cause 
of  the  Pullman  employees  on  the  ground  that  they  were 
members  thereof.  This  union  numbered,  as  alleged, 
about  150,000  members.  It  undertook  to  force  the 
Pullman  Company  to  accede  to  the  demands  of  its  em- 
ployees by  boycotting  Pullman  cars  ;  that  is  to  say,  they 
declared  that  they  would  not  handle  Pullman  cars  on  the 
railroads  where  such  cars  were  used  unless  the  Pullman 
Company  would  accede  to  the  demands  made  upon  it. 
The  immediate  antagonist  of  the  Pullman  Company  in 
the  extended  controversy  was,  therefore,  the  American 
Railway  Union. 

Another  force  was  soon  involved  in  the  strike,  which 
was,  very  naturally,  an  ally  of  the  Pullman  Company. 
This  was  the  General  Managers'  Association,  a  body  of 
railroad  men  representing  all  the  roads  radiating  from 
Chicago,  and  it  was  through  the  necessity  of  protecting 
the  traffic  of  its  lines,  as  claimed,  that  it  made  its  contest 
with  the  American  Railway  Union.  These  roads  repre- 
sented a  combined  capital  of  more  than  $2,000,000,000, 
and  they  employed  more  than  one  fourth  of  all  the  rail- 
road employees  in  the  United  States.  These  three  great 
forces,  therefore,  were  enlisted  in  a  strife  for  supremacy, 


The  Chicago  Strike,   i8qj.. — Boycotts.  315 

and  they  alone,  without  reference  to  the  conditions  and 
circumstances  attending  the  strike  or  accompanying  it, 
constitute  it  one  of  the  historic  strikes  of  this  agi 

According  to  the  testimony  of  the  officials  of  the  rail- 
roads involved,  they  lost  in  property  destroyed,  hire  of  vi,|« 

tt-jo  1  11  it...  out  f.f  Chicago 

United  Mates  deputy  marshals,  and  other  incidental  ex-  strike, 
penses,  at  least  $685,308.  The  loss  of  earnings  of  these 
roads  on  account  of  the  strike  is  estimated  at  nearly 
$5,000,000.  About  3,100  employees  at  Pullman  lost  in 
wages,  as  estimated,  probably  $350,000.  About  100,000 
employees  upon  the  twenty-four  railroads  radiating  from 
Chicago,  all  of  which  were  more  or  less  involved  in  the 
strike,  lost  in  wages,  as  estimated,  nearly  $1,400,000. 
Beyond  these  amounts  very  great  losses,  widely  distrib- 
uted, were  suffered  incidentally  throughout  the  country. 
The  suspension  of  transportation  at  Chicago  paralyzed  a 
vast  distributive  center,  and  imposed  many  hardships 
and  much  loss  upon  the  great  number  of  people  wh( 
manufacturing  and  business  operations,  employment, 
travel,  and  necessary  supplies  depend  upon  and  demand 
regular  transportation  service  to,  from,  and  through  Chi- 
cago. The  losses  to  the  country  at  large  are  estimated  iosscstotn 
by  Bradstreet's  to  be  in  the  vicinity  of  $80,000,000.  counlr>- 
Whatever  they  are,  whether  more  or  less,  they  teach  the 
lesson  of  the  necessity  of  preventing  such  disasters,  and 
the  strike  illustrates  how  a  small  local  disturbance,  aris- 
ing from  the  complaints  of  a  few  people,  can  result  in  in- 
volving so  much  of  a  large  country.  When  the  Ameri- 
can Railway  Union  took  up  the  cudgel  for  the  Pullman 
strikers  and  declared  their  boycott  as  against  Pullman 
cars,  and  the  General  Managers'  Association  took  every 
means  to  protect  their  interests  and  prevent  the  stoppage 


*  For  an  extended  account  of  this  strike  see  the  report  of  the  I  nil.  .!  St:ites 
Strike  Commission  (Senate  Ex.  Doc.  No         jd  Congi  on). 


Object  of 
United  States 
troops  at 
Chicago. 


Responsibility 
belongs  to  each 
party. 


3 1 6       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 

of  transportation,  the  sympathies  and  antagonisms  of  the 
whole  country  were  aroused.  The  attempt  was  made  to 
induce  all  trades  in  Chicago  to  join  in  a  great  sympathetic 
strike,  but  this  attempt  was  not  successful. 

The  inevitable  accompaniments  of  a  great  strike  were 
brought  into  play  at  Chicago.  Riots,  intimidations,  as- 
saults, murder,  arson,  and  burglary,  with  lesser  crimes, 
attended  the  strike.  In  this,  as  in  some  of  the  other  his- 
toric strikes,  troops  were  engaged.  The  city  police,  the 
county  sheriffs,  the  state  militia,  United  States  deputy 
marshals,  and  regulars  from  the  United  States  army  were 
all  brought  into  the  controversy.  The  United  States 
troops  were  sent  to  Chicago  to  protect  federal  property 
and  to  prevent  obstruction  in  the  carrying  of  the  mails, 
to  prevent  interference  with  interstate  commerce,  and  to 
enforce  the  decrees  and  mandates  of  the  federal  courts. 
They  took  no  part  in  any  attempt  to  suppress  the  strike, 
nor  could  they,  as  such  matters  belong  to  the  city  and 
state  authorities.  The  police  of  the  city  were  used  to 
suppress  riots  and  protect  the  property  of  citizens,  and 
the  state  militia  was  called  in  for  the  same  service.  The 
total  of  these  forces  employed  during  the  continuance  of 
the  strike  was  14,186. 

Many  indictments  have  grown  out  of  the  difficulties 
occurring  at  Chicago,  and  the  courts  are  at  the  time  of 
writing  considering  the  cases.  But  all  the  attending  cir- 
cumstances of  the  strike  point  to  one  conclusion — that  a 
share  of  the  responsibility  for  bringing  it  on  belongs  in 
some  degree  to  each  and  every  party  involved.  The 
strike  generated  a  vast  deal  of  bitter  feeling — so  bitter 
that  neither  party  was  ready  to  consider  the  rights  of  the 
other.  The  attacking  parties  claimed  that  their  griev- 
ances warranted  them  in  adopting  any  means  in  their 
power  to  force  concessions.      This  is  the  attitude  of  all 


Stl  ikes. 


The   Chicago  Strike,   i8yj_. — Boycotts.  317 

strikes.     The  other  parties,  on  the  other  hand,  claimed 

that  they  were  justified  in  adopting  any  means  in  their 

power  to  resist  the  demands  of  the  attacking  party.    The 

probability  is  that  neither  recognized  the  rights  of  the 

public  to  such  an  extent  as  to  induce  them  to   forbear 

bringing  inconvenience  and  disturbance  to  it.      It  was  the 

most  suggestive  strike  that  has  ever  occurred  in  this  cw^gSstrik! 

country,  and  if  it  only  proves  a  lesson  sufficientlv  severe 

to  teach  the  public  its  rights  in  such  matters  and  to  teach 

it  to  adopt  measures  to  preserve  those  rights,  it  will  be 

worth  all  it  has  cost.     This,  perhaps,  is  the  lesson  of  all 

the  strikes  that  have  been  called  "historic."     This  is  not 

the  place  to  discuss  the  merits  of  any  of  them  or  of  the 

claims  of  either  or  any  of  the  parties  to  them. 

Other  great  strikes  have  occurred  which,  considered  ,,,,,,. 
with  those  that  have  been  described,  constitute  [894  tin- 
era  of  vast  labor  controversies.  The  Lehigh  Valley 
Railroad  strike,  which  occurred  in  December,  [893; 
the  American  Railway  Union  strike  on  the  Great  North- 
ern Railroad,  which  occurred  in  April,  1894  ;  the  great 
coal  strike,  which  occurred  in  the  same  month,  and  tin- 
Chicago  strike  of  June  and  July,  all  crowded  into  tin- 
space  of  seven  months,  are  sufficient  to  make  that  brief 
period  memorable,  and  they  all  call  emphatic  attention 
to  the  necessity  of  some  sane  method  of  preventing 
like  occurrences,  or  at  least  of  reducing  their  number 
and  their  severity.  The  lessons  have  been  expensive, 
the  losses  great,  the  demoralization  certain,  the  bitter 
ness  intensified,  but  out  of  all  this  conies  the  great  moral 
lesson  that  there  must  be  found  a  way  to  deal  with  such 
affairs  without  the  presence  of  the  sheriff  and  all  that  the 
sheriff  stands  for.  This  work  deals  with  history,  not 
with  philosophy  ;  with  the  growth  and  development  of 
industries  and  their  accompanying  condition-,  not  with 


31 8      Ltd  it  si  rial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 

political  economy,  nor  with  remedies  for  bad  conditions, 

and  so  the  discussion  of  alleged  solutions  must  be  avoided. 

Strikes  and  lockouts,  as  already  stated,  are  similar  in 

Boycotts-  their  character.     There  is  another  weapon  used  in  labor 

origin  of  them. 

controversies,  known  as  the  "boycott."  This  term  was 
coined  from  the  name  of  one  Captain  Boycott,  an  agent  in 
Ireland  of  Lord  Erne's  Lough  Mask  estate,  who  in  1880 
evicted  a  large  number  of  tenants.  The  tenants,  with 
their  neighbors,  refused  all  further  intercourse  with  Cap- 
tain Boycott  and  his  family,  and  declined  to  work  for 
him  or  trade  with  him,  or  to  allow  any  one  else  to  do 
so.*  So  now,  when  there  is  any  organized  attempt  to 
coerce  a  person  into  compliance  with  any  demand, 
through  a  combination  pledged  to  abstain,  and  pledged 
further  to  compel  others  to  abstain,  from  having  social 
intercourse  with  him  or  to  trade  with  him,  or  there  is  an 
organized  persecution  of  any  person  or  company,  to  be 
used  as  a  means  of  coercion  or  intimidation  or  of  retali- 
ation for  some  act,  or  there  is  an  organized  refusal  to  act 
in  any  particular  way,  such  action,  in  any  of  these  cases, 
is  called  a  "boycott"  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  person  or 
party  against  whom  any  of  these  actions  is  directed  is 
put  into  the  position  in  which  Captain  Boycott  found 
himself. 

It  is  only  the  name  in  this   connection  which  is  of  re- 
Boycott  old  in      cent  origin.     The  process  is  very  old,  for  whenever,  for 

principle. 

any  purpose,  a  number  of  persons  by  agreement  decide 
to  let  another  severely  alone  in  order  to  bring  him  to 
terms,  that  person  has  been  boycotted  ;  but  the  method 
has  often  been  considered  an  evidence  of  the  loftiest 
patriotism.  It  all  depends  upon  the  cause  and  upon  the 
popular  estimate  of  the  cause.  The  tea  episode  in  Bos- 
ton Harbor  and  the  efforts  of  the  colonists,  through  their 

*  Johnson's  "Universal  Cyclopedia." 


The   Chicago  Strike,   189J.. — Boycotts.  319 

pledges,  to  prevent  the  importation  of  foreign  goods  and 
thereby  force  the  consumption  of  home-made  Broods,  are   u'^-y 

j  1  o  the  l 

instances  of  the  boycott.  As  Dr.  Ely,  in  his  work,  "  The 
Labor  Movement  in  America,"  remarks  :  "  The  boycott 
has  been  employed  against  obnoxious  individuals  from 
time  immemorial.  In  1327  the  citizens  of  Canterbury, 
England,  boycotted  the  monks  of  Christ's  Church,  meet 
ing  in  an  open  field,  and  passing  these  resolutions  among 
others:  '  That  no  one,  under  penalties  to  be  imposed 
by  the  city,  should  inhabit  the  prior's  houses  ;  that  no 
one  should  buy,  sell,  or  exchange  drinks  or  victuals  with 
the  monastery,  under  similar  penalties.'  " 

The  abolitionists  boycotted  slave-made  products  ;  the 
temperance  people  have  used  the  same  method  to  re 
press  the  liquor  nuisance  ;  the  pulpit  has  tried  hard  to 
boycott  Sunday  newspapers,  and  recently  there  has  been 
established  in  the  city  of  New  York  a  society,  consisting 
of  women  occupying  excellent  social  positions,  pledged 
not  to  purchase  goods  of  houses  which  do  not  furnish 
proper  conveniences  for  their  saleswomen.  Railroad 
companies  have  boycotted  their  men  time  and  time 
again;  working  people  have  boycotted  railroads,  (bal- 
ers, and  manufacturers  ;  railroads  combine  and  boycott 
other  railroads  ;  and  so  the  method  has  grown  to  be  a 
familiar  one  with  all  classes,  and  one  that  is  used  in 
various  ways.      When  the  boycott  is  carried  to  a  certain 

,  ...  ...  Wluii  tin 

extent  or  the  combination  seeking  it  amounts  to  a  con-   boycott  h 

,        ,.  ,,  . ,  11  (initial. 

spiracy  to  unlawfully  prevent  or  restrain  another,  or  to 
accomplish  any  unlawful  purpose,  it  becomes  a  criminal 

offense,   and   is  actionable.      Many  states  have  ena<  ted 
laws  relating  to  it  ;  but  these  laws  practically  admit,  by 
their  very  language,   the  use  of  the  boycott.      For  in- 
stance, the  state  of  Illinois,  in  its  statute  relating  to  DO) 
cotting  and  blacklisting,  provides  that 


320       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    I  rnited  States. 

If  any  two  or  more  persons  conspire  oragree  together,  or  the 
Law  of  state  of    0fficers  or  executive  committee  of  any  society  or  organization 

Illinois.  >  .  . 

or  corporation  shall  issue  or  utter  any  circular  or  edict  as  the 
action  of  or  instruction  to  its  members,  or  any  other  persons, 
societies,  organizations,  or  corporations  for  the  purpose  of  es- 
tablishing a  so-called  boycott  or  blacklist,  or  shall  post  or  dis- 
tribute any  written  or  printed  notice  in  any  place,  with  the 
fraudulent  or  malicious  intent  wrongfully  and  wickedly  to  in- 
jure the  person,  character,  business,  or  employment  or  prop- 
erty of  another,  ....  they  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  a 
conspiracy ;  and  every  such  offender,  whether  as  individuals 
or  as  the  officers  of  any  society  or  organization,  and  every  per- 
son convicted  of  conspiracy  at  common  law,  shall  be  imprisoned 
in  the  penitentiary  not  exceeding  five  years,  or  fined  not  ex- 
ceeding $ 2,000,  or  both. 

In  all  such  laws  it  is  to  be  remarked  how  cautiously 
the  framers  have  used  the  words  "fraudulent,"  "ma- 
licious," "wrongfully,"  "wickedly,"  etc.,  because 
should  any  number  of  persons  agree  not  to  purchase 
goods  of  a  particular  trader,  or  agree  to  avoid  certain 
cars,  or  not  to  buy  a  certain  paper,  they  could  not  be 
convicted  unless  it  was  shown  that  they  did  it  maliciously, 
Boycott  as  a        etc.     The  boycott  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  accom- 

condition  of  .  ...  r     .  .  r   .      .  ., 

modern  panying  conditions  01  the  expansion  01  industry  and  the 

complications  arising  therefrom.  When  the  strike  goes, 
through  prevention  or  through  increased  intelligence, 
the  industrial  boycott  will  become  feeble  in  its  opera- 
tion, and  will  have  no  terror  for  the  trader,  in  whatever 
capacity  he  may  act.   « 


PART  IV. 

THE  INFLUENCE  OF  MACHINERY  ON 
LABOR. 


PART  IV-THE  INFLUENCE  OF  MACHINERY 

ON  LABOR. 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE     INFLUENCE     OF    MACHINERY    ON    LABOR. DIS- 
PLACEMENT. 

As  shown  in  the  chapter  on  the  planting  of  the  fac- 
tory system,  the  age  of  machinery  found  its  birth  in 
the  development  of  spinning  and  weaving,  and  as  these  Birth  of  age  of 
two  arts  lie  at  the  very  foundation  of  the  industrial  arts  "'•Rh"R,N- 
of  the  ancients,  so  they  are  to  a  large  extent  the  basic 
arts  of  the  modern  system  of  industry.  Until  the  dec- 
ade of  years  beginning  with  1760  the  machines  in  use 
for  weaving,  as  well  as  for  spinning,  were  nearly  as  sim- 
ple as  those  in  use  among  the  ancients,  and  there  were 
no  machines  of  any  consequence,  certainly  nunc  used 
with  power  other  than  hand  or  foot-power,  in  operation. 
Of  course  the  principles  of  all  simple,  primitive  prixv- 
are  those  still  in  force,  but  it  is  only  since  invention  has 
been  applied  to  productive  processes  that  it  has  had  any 
specific  influence  upon  the  labor  of  man,  cither  in  an 
economic  or  an  ethical  sense.  It  is  proposed  lure  to 
treat  of  the  influence  of  machinery  in  these  two  respects 
— in  its  economic  and  in  its  ethical  influence  on  labor; 
and,  first,  as  to  its  economic  influence  : 

This  influence  has  been   felt   in  two  ways,  and  these   1  fl 

in. 11  binerj  • 

ways  are  diametrically  opposed  ti>  each  other.     The  one, 
in  popular  speech,  is  called  the  "displacement  ot  labor" 

323 


324       Industrial  Evolution  of  Hie   United  States. 


Me 
term 


.'"'•'dis''  ""'    ;m(l  the  other  may  be  called  the   "  expansion  of  labor." 
i''j',!,,I1''"'1 "'        By  the  displacement  of  labor  is  meant  what  would  be  ex- 
pressed more  specifically  by  the  term   ' '  contraction  of 


Old-Fashioni-.i)  Stage  Coach. 


labor"  ;  that  is,  where  a  machine  has  been  invented  by 
which  one  man  can  do  tin-  work,  with  the  aid  of  the  ma- 
chine, of  several  men  working  without  its  aid  ;  and  by  ex- 


The  Influence  of  Machinery  on   Labor.         325 


pansion  of  labor  is  meant  where,  through  invention,  M,,miMk.,,f 
more  men  are  called  into  remunerative  employment  than  i., C' •'•""" ",of 
would  have  been  employed  had  not  such  invention  been 
made.  In  considering'  these  economic  bearings  <>r  influ- 
ences of  machinery  we  must  deal  with  labor  abstractly  ; 
but  in  speaking"  of  the  ethical  influence  later  on  labor 
must  be  considered  not  only  abstractly,  but  as  to  its  in- 
fluence on  man  as  a  social  and  political  factor.     In  the 

highest  sense  the  ethical  influence  of  machinery  becomes    Ethical influ- 
.  ence  the  most 

the  most  prominent  feature  of  any  treatment  of  the  rela-    prominent. 

tion  of  machinery  to  or  its  influence  upon  labor  ;  but 
naturally  the  economic  disturbances  which  have  taken 
place  through  the  introduction  of  finely-specialized  ma- 
chinery claim  the  first  attention. 

No  one  can  claim  that  labor-saving  machinery,  so  Displacement  of 
called,  but  which  more  properly  should  be  called  labor-  labor- 
making  or  labor-assisting  machinery,  does  not  displace 
labor  so  far  as  men  individually  are  concerned,  yet  all 
men  of  sound  minds  admit  the  permanent  good  effects  of 
the  application  of  machinery  to  industrial  development. 
The  permanent  good  effects,  however,  do  not  prevent 
the  temporary  displacement,  which,  so  far  as  the 
particular  labor  displaced  is  concerned,  assists  in 
crippling  the  consuming  power  of  the  community  in 
which  it  takes  place.  It  is,  of  course,  exceedingly 
difficult  to  secure  positive  information  illustrating  a  point 
so  thoroughly  apparent ;  yet  from  the  fugitive  sources 
which  are  at  command  a  sufficient  amount  oi  informa 
tion  can  be  drawn  to  show  clearly  and  positively  the 
influence  of  machinery  in  bringing  about  what  Is  tailed 
displacement.* 

*  The  specific  facts  in  this  chapter  have  been  drawn  from  the  Firs!  Annual 
Report  ofthe  United  States  Commissioner  of  Labor  and  from  "Recent   1 
nomic  Changes,"  Dj  David  A.  Wells,  LL.  1  >.    See  also  the  address  ol  the  au- 
thor at  tin- 1  elebrati I  tin-  beginning  "i  the  second  .'111111%  "i  the  \i m 

Patent  System,  at  Washington,  Api  LI,  1891. 


326      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


In  manufacture 
ofagi  icultural 
implements. 


In  small  arms. 


In  brick- 
making. 


Iii  the  manufacture  of  agricultural  implements  new 
machinery  has,  in  the  opinion  of  some  of  the  best  manu- 
facturers of  such  implements,  displaced  fully  fifty  per 
cent  of  the  muscular  labor  formerly  employed,  as,  for  in- 
stance, hammers  and  dies  have  done  away  with  the  most 
particular  labor  on  a  plow.  In  one  of  the  most  extensive 
establishments  engaged  inthe  manufacture  of  agricultural 
implements  in  one  of  the  Western  States  it  is  found  that 
600  men,  with  the  use  of  machinery,  are  now  doing  the 
work  that  would  require  2,145  men,  without  the  aid  of 
machinery,  to  perform  ;  that  is  to  say,  there  has  been  in 
this  particular  establishment  a  loss  of  labor  to  1,545  men, 
the  proportion  of  loss  being  as  3.57  to  1. 

In  the  manufacture  of  small  arms,  where  one  man,  by 
manual  labor,  was  formerly  able  to  "turn"  and  "fit" 
one  stock  for  a  musket  in  one  day  of  ten  hours,  three 
men  now,  by  a  division  of  labor  and  the  use  of  power 


Passenger  Car,  1834. 
Portage  Railroad. 


Freight  Car,  1835. 
Portage  Railroad. 


machinery,  will  turn  out  and  fit  from  125  to  150 
stocks  in  ten  hours.  By  this  statement  it  is  seen  that 
one  man  individually  turns  out  and  fits  the  equivalent  of 
forty-two  to  fifty  stocks  in  ten  hours,  as  against  one  stock 
in  the  same  length  of  time  under  former  conditions.  In 
this  particular  calling,  then,  there  is  a  displacement  of 
forty-four  to  forty-nine  men  in  one  operation. 

Looking  at  a   cruder  industry,  that  of  brickmaking, 
improved  devices  have  displaced  ten  per  cent  of  labor, 


The  Influence  of  Machinery  on   Labor.  327 

while  in  making  fire-brick  forty  per  cent  of  the  labor  for- 
merly employed  is  now  dispensed  with,  and  yet  in  many 
brickmaking  concerns  no  displacement  whatever  has 
taken  place. 

The  manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes  offers  some  very 
wonderful  facts  in  this  connection.      In   one  large  and   \ 
long-established    manufactory    in   one   of   the     Eastern 
States  the  proprietors  testify  that  it  would  require  five 
hundred  persons,  working  by  hand  processes  and  in  the 


In  manufacture 


Freight  and  Passi-inger  Cars,  i 
Jeffersonville,  Madison  and  Indianapolis  Railroad. 

old  way  in  the  shops  by  the  roadside,  to  make  as  many 
women's  boots  and  shoes  as  one  hundred  persons  now 
make  with  the  aid  of  machinery  and  by  congregated 
labor,  a  contraction  of  eighty  per  cent  in  this  particular 
case.  In  another  division  of  the  same  industry  the  num- 
ber of  men  required  to  produce  a  given  quantity  of  boots 
and  shoes  has  been  reduced  one  half,  while,  in  still  an- 
other locality,  and  on  another  quality  of  boots,  being 
entirely  for  women's  wear,  where  formerly  a  first-class  \^[ 
workman  could  turn  out  six  pairs  in  one  week,  he  will 
now  turn  out  eighteen  pairs.  A  well-known  firm  in  the 
West  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes 
finds  that  it  would  take  one  hundred  and  twenty  persons, 
working  by  hand,  to  produce  the  amount  of  work  done 
in  its  factory  by  sixty  employees,  and  that  the  hand- 
work would  not  compare  in  workmanship  and  appear- 
ance by  fifty  per  cent.     By  the  use  of  <  »oodyear's  sew- 


328       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


Use  of  shoe 
machinery. 


ing  machine  for  turned  shoes  one  man  will  sew  two 
hundred  and  fifty  pairs  in  one  day.  It  would  require 
eight  men,  working-  by  hand,  to  sew  the  same  number 
in  the  same  time.  By  the  use  of  a  heel-shaver  or  trim- 
mer one  man  will  trim  three  hundred  pairs  of  shoes  a 
day,  while  formerly  three  men  would  have  been  required 
to  do  the  same  work  ;  and  with  the  McKay  machine 
one  operator  will  handle  three  hundred  pairs  of  shoes  in 
one  day,  while  without  the  machine  he  could  handle  but 
five  pairs  in  the  same  time.  So,  in  nailing  on  heels,  one 
man,  with  the  aid  of  machinery,  can  heel  three  hundred 
pairs  of  shoes  per  day,  while  five  men  would  have  to 


Model  of  the  John  Stevens  Locomotive,  the  First  in  America.    1825. 


work  all  day  to  accomplish  this  by  hand.  A  large  Phil- 
adelphia house  which  makes  boys'  and  children's  shoes 
entirely,  has  learned  that  the  introduction  of  new  machin- 
ery within  the  past  thirty  years  has  displaced  employees 


The  Influence  of  ftfackinery  on  Labor.  529 


in  the  proportion  of  six  to  one,  and  that  the  cost  of  tin- 
product  has  been  reduced  one  half. 

The  broom  industry,  which  would  not  seem  to  offer  .1  i„  i,tl„,tn. 
large  field  for  speculation  in  reference  to  displacement,  makmi;- 
has  felt  the  influence  of  invention,  for  the  broom-sewing 
machine  facilitates  the  work  to  such  an  extent  that  each 
machine  displaces  three  men.  A  large  broom-manu- 
facturing concern  which  a  few  years  ago  employed  sev- 
enteen skilled  men  to  manufacture  five  hundred  dozen 
brooms  per  week,  now,  with  nine  men,  aided  by  inven- 
tion,.turns  out  twelve  hundred  dozen  brooms  weekly  ; 
so  in  this  case,  while  the  force  is  reduced  nearly  one 
half,  the  quantity  of  product  is  more  than  doubled. 

To  look  at  a  carriage  or  a  wagon,  one  would  not  sup-   ,. 

o  &         >  I  (  at  1 1  < . 

pose  that  in  its  manufacture  machinery  could  perform  u;,k""s. 
very  much  of  an  office,  and  yet  a  foreman  of  fifty  years' 
experience  has  stated  that  the  length  of  time  it  formerly 
took  a  given  number  of  skilled  workmen,  working  en 
tirely  by  hand,  to  produce  a  carriage  of  a  certain  style 
and  quality  was  equal  to  thirty-five  days  of  one  man's 
labor,  while  now  substantially  the  same  style  "t  carriage 
is  produced  by  twelve  days'  labor.  Machinery  has 
been  employed  in  making  the  parts  necessary  to  tin- 
construction  of  a  carriage  or  a  wagon,  and  thus  has  sim- 
plified the  work  and  reduced  the  time  essential  for  the 
production  of  the  completed  product. 

In  the  manufacture  of  carpets  there  has  been  a  dis- 
placement,  taking  all  the  processes  together,  of/from  ten 
to  twenty  times  the  number  of  persons  now  necessary. 
In  the  spinning  of  carpet  material  alone  it  would  take, 
by  the  old  methods,  from  seventy-five  to  one  hundred 
times  the  number  of  operatives  now  employed  to  turn 
out  the  same  amount  of  work,  while  in  weaving  there 
would  be  required  at  least  ten  times  the  present  mini 


330      Industrial  Evolution  of  I  lie   United  States. 


Clothing. 


A  carpet-measuring  machine  lias  been  invented  which 
brushes  and  measures  the  product  at  the  same  time,  and 
by  its  use  one  operator  will  accomplish  what  formerly- 
required  fifteen  men. 

Very  many  people  would  say  that  in   the  manufacture 
of  clothing  there  has  been  no  improvement,  except  so 


Model  of  the  Stockton  and  Darlington  Locomotive  No.  i,  brought 
from  England  to  the  United  States  in  1S26. 


Use  of  dies. 


far  as  the  use  of  the  sewing  machine  has  facilitated  the 
manufacture  ;  yet  in  the  ready-made  clothing  trade, 
where  cutting  was  formerly  done  by  hand,  much  of  it  is 
now  done  by  the  use  of  dies,  many  thicknesses  of  the 
same  size  and  style  being  cut  at  one  operation.     So  in 


The  Influence  of  Machinery  on   Labor.         331 


cutting  out  hats  and  caps  with  improved  cutters,  one 
man  is  enabled  to  cut  out  a  gnat  many  thicknesses  at 
the  same  time,  and  he  docs  six  times  the  amount  of 
work  with  such  devices  as  could  formerly  be  done  1>v  one 
man  in  the  old  way. 

While  the  age  of  machinery  began  with  improvements  Tcxtiies. 
for  the  manufacture  of  textiles,  so  the  manufacture  of 
textiles,  and  especially  cotton  goods,  offers  perhaps  as 
striking  an  illustration  as  any  of  the  apparent  displace- 
ment of  labor.  With  a  hand-loom  a  weaver  used  to 
weave  from  sixty  to  eighty  picks*  per  minute  in  weaving 
a  cloth  of  good  quality,  with  twenty  tint  ads  of  twist  to 
each  one  quarter  square  inch.  With  a  power-loom  he 
now  weaves  one  hundred  and  eighty  picks  per  minute  of  JoSwJoom. 
the  same  kind  of  cloth.  Even  in  power  machinery,  a 
weaver  formerly  tended  but  one  loom.  Now  one  weaver 
minds  all  the  way  from  two  to  ten  looms,  according  to 
the  grade  of  goods.  In  a  large  establishment  in  New- 
Hampshire,  improved  machinery,  even  within  ten  years, 
has  reduced  muscular  labor  fifty  per  cent  in  the  produc- 
tion of  the  same  quality  of  goods.  This,  of  course,  is 
true  in  other  localities  given  to  the  manufacture  of  cot- 
ton goods. 

In  another  line  labor  has  been  displaced  to  Mich  an 
extent  that  only  one  third  the  number  of  operatives 
formerly  required  is  now  in  employment.  In  the  days 
of  the  single-spindle  hand-wheel,  one  spinner,  working  Salines?8 
fifty-six  hours  continuously,  could  spin  five  hanksf  of 
number  thirty-two  twist.  At  the  present  time,  with  one 
pair  of  self-acting  mule-spinning  machines,  having  ^,124 


*  Pick.— In  weaving,  the  blow  which  drives  the  shuttle,  It  i--  delivered 
upon  the  end  of  the  shuttle  by  the  picker-head  ;ii  the  extremitj  <>i  the  pit  U'i- 
staflf.    The  rate  of  a  loom  is  said  to  be  so  manj  picks  per  minute 

t  Hank. — A  skein  or  coil  of  yarn  or  thread  ;  more  parti<  ularly,  a  definite 
length  of  yarn,  thread,  silk,  or  the  like  bound  up  in  one  01  more  skeins,  \ 
hank  of  cotton  yarn  is  840  yards  ;  a  hank  of  linen  yarn  is  3,000  yards, 


332       hid  it  si  rial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Displacement 
in  cotton 
manufacture. 


spindles,  one  spinner,  with  the  assistance  of  two  small 
boys,  can  produce  55,098  hanks  of  number  thirty-two 
twist  in  the  same  time.  It  is  quite  generally  agreed  that 
there  has  been  a  displacement,  taking  all  processes  of 
cotton  manufacture  into  consideration,  in  the  proportion 
of  three  to  one.  The  average  number  of  spindles  per 
operative  in  the  cotton-mills  of  this  country  in  1831  was 


The  "George  Washington"   Locomotive,  1835.     The  First  Locomo- 
tive to  Climb  a  Heavy  Grade  in  the  United  States. 


Product  of 
hand-loom. 


25.2  ;  it  is  now  over  64.82,  an  increase  of  nearly  157 
per  cent ;  and  along  with  this  increase  of  the  number  of 
spindles  per  operative  there  has  been  an  increase  of 
product  per  operative  of  over  145  per  cent,  so  far  as 
spinning  alone  is  concerned.  In  weaving  in  the  olden 
time,  in  this  country,  a  fair  adult  hand-loom  weaver  wove 
from  forty-two  to  forty-eight  yards  of  common  shirting 
per  week.     Now  a  weaver,  tending  six  power-looms  in  a 


The  Influence  of  Machinery  on  Labor.         333 


cotton  factory,  will  produce  1 ,  500  yards  and  over  in  a 
single  week ;  and  now  a  recent  invention  will  enable  a 
weaver  to  double  this  product. 

Marvelous  as  these  facts  appear,  when  we  examine  the 
influence  of  invention  as  applied  in  the  newspaper  pub- 
lishing business  we  perceive  more  clearly  the  magic  of 
inventive  genius.  One  of  the  latest  sextuple  stereotype 
perfecting  presses  manufactured  by  R.  Hoe  &  Co.,  of 


'-ji^i 


The  Hoe  Sextuple  Stereotype  Perfecting  Press  and  Folder. 
Prints  72,000  4,  6,  or  8-page  papers  per  hour;  48,000  10  or  12-page  papers   per 
hour;  36,000  16-page  papers  per  hour;  24,000  14,  20,  or  24-page  papers  per 
hour;  all  the  dimensions  of  the  average  daily  newspaper,  and  delivered 
folded  and  counted. 

New  York,  has  an  aggregate  running  capacity  of  72,000 
eight-page  papers  per  hour  ;  that  is  to  say,  one  of  these 
perfected  presses,  run  by  one  pressman  and  four  skilled 
laborers,  will  print,  cut  at  the  top,  fold,  paste,  and  count 
(with  supplement  inserted  if  desired)  72,000  eight-page 
papers  in  one  hour.  To  do  the  press-work  alone  for 
this  number  of  papers  would  take,  on  the  old  plan,  a 
man  and  a  boy,  working  ten  hours  per  day,  one  hundred 
days.  A  paper  now  published  in  the  morning,  printed, 
folded,  cut,  and  pasted  before  breakfast,  would,  before 
the  edition  could  be  completed  under  the  old  system,  be- 
come a  quarterly. 


Printing. 


The  modern 
press. 


334      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  Stales. 


General  illus- 
trations. 


Comparison  of 
the  two 

methods — hand 
and  machine. 


And  so  illustrations  might  be  accumulated  in  very 
many  directions — in  the  manufacture  of  furniture,  in  the 
glass  industry,  in  leather-making,  in  sawing  lumber,  in 
the  manufacture  of  machines  and  machinery,  in  the  pro- 
duction of  metals  and  metallic  goods  of  all  kinds,  or  of 
wooden-ware,  in  the  manufacture  of  musical  instruments, 
in  mining,  in  the  oil  industry,  in  the  manufacture  of 
paper,  in  pottery,  in  the  production  of  railroad  supplies, 
in  the  manufacture  of  rubber  boots,  of  saws,  of  silk  goods, 
of  soap,  of  tobacco,  of  trunks,  in  building  vessels,  in 
making  wine,  and  in  the  production  of  woolen  goods. 

It  is  impossible  to  arrive  at  an  accurate  statement  as  to 
the  number  of  persons  it  would  require  under  the  old 
system  to  produce  the  goods  made  by  the  present  indus- 
trial system  with  the  aid  of  invention  and  power  machin- 
ery. Any  computation  would  be  a  rough  estimate.  In 
some  branches  of  work  such  a  rough  estimate  would  in- 
dicate that  each  employee  at  the  present  represents,  on 
an  average,  fifty  employees  under  the  old  system.  In 
many  other  branches  the  estimate  would  involve  the  em- 
ployment of  one  now  where  three  were  employed.  Look- 
ing at  this  question  without  any  desire  to  be  mathemat- 
ically accurate,  it  is  fair  to  say,  perhaps,  that  it  would  re- 
quire from  fifty  to  one  hundred  million  persons  in  this 
country,  working  under  the  old  system,  to  produce  the 
goods  made  and  do  the  work  performed  by  the  workers 
of  to-day  with  the  aid  of  machinery.  This  computation 
may,  of  course,  be  very  wide  of  the  truth,  but  any  com- 
putation is  equally  startling,  and  when  it  is  considered 
that  in  spinning  alone  i,  ioo  threads  are  easily  spun  now 
at  one  time  where  one  was  spun  under  the  old  system, 
no  estimate  can  be  successfully  disputed. 

All  these  facts  and  illustrations  simply  show  that  there 
has  been,  economically  speaking,  a  great  displacement  of 


The  Influence  of  Machinery  on  Labor.         335 


labor  by  the  use  of  inventions  ;  power  machinery  has  Machi 
come  in  as  a  magical  assistant  to  the  power  of  muscle 
and  mind,  and  it  is  this  side  of  the  question  that  usually 
causes  alarm.  Enlightenment  has  taught  the  wage- 
receiver  some  of  the  advantages  of  the  introduction  of 
inventions  as  his  assistants,  but  he  is  not  yet  fully  in- 
structed as  to  their  influence  in  all  directions.  He 
does  see  the  displacement ;  he  does  see  the  difficulty 
of  turning  his  hand  to  other  employment  or  of  finding 


nery 
assists  muscle. 


The  First  Steam  Train  Run  on  the  Pennsylvania  State 
Railroad,  1834. 

employment  in  the  same  direction.  These  are  tangible 
influences  which  present  themselves  squarely  in  the  face 
of  the  man  involved,  and  to  him  no  philosophical,  eco- 
nomic,  or  ethical  answer  is  sufficient.      It  is  therefore 

...  r     t        •     n  r  •  •  r         Inadequacy  of 

impossible  to  treat  01  the  influence  01  inventions,  so  far  individual  basis, 
as  the  displacement  of  labor  is  concerned,  as  one  of  the 
leading  influences,  on  the  individual  basis.  We  must 
take  labor  abstractly.  So,  having  shown  the  powerful 
influence  of  the  use  of  ingenious  devices  in  the  displace- 
ment or  contraction  of  labor,  as  such,  it  is  proper  to 
show  how  such  devices  have  influenced  the  expansion 
of  labor  or  created  employments  and  opportunities  for 
employment  which  did  not  exist  before  their  inception 
and  application.  A  separate  chapter  is  given  to  this 
part  of  the  subject. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

THE    INFLUENCE    OF     MACHINERY     ON     LABOR. — EX- 
PANSION. 

As  incredible  as  the  facts  given  in  the  preceding 
Expansion  of  chapter  appear  to  one  who  has  not  studied  them,  the 
machinery6  °  ability  to  crystallize  in  individual  cases  and  show  the 
fairly  exact  displacement  of  labor  exists.  An  examina- 
tion of  the  opposite  influence  of  inventions,  that  of  the 
expansion  or  creation  of  employments  not  before  exist- 
ing, reveals  a  more  encouraging  state  or  condition  of 
things,  but  one  in  which  the  statistician  can  make  but  very 
little  headway.  The  influences  under  the  expansion  of 
labor  have  various  ramifications.  The  people  at  large, 
and  especially  those  who  work  for  wages,  have  experi- 
enced these  influences  in  several  directions,  and  contem- 
poraneous with  the  introduction  and  use  of  inventions, 
the  chief  economic  influence  being  in  the  direction  of 
expansion,  the  other  influences  being  more  thoroughly 
ethical,  and  these  should  be  considered  under  that  broad 
title.  The  statistical  method  helps  in  some  respects  in 
studying  the  expansive  power  of  inventions,  and  espe- 
cially in  the  direction  of  great  staples  used  as  raw  material 
in  manufacturing  processes  and  in  the  increase  of  the 
number  of  people  employed  relative  to  the  number  of 
the  population.  If  there  has  been  a  great  increase  in 
the  consumption  per  capita  of  great  staples  for  manu- 
facturing purposes,  there  must  have  been  a  correspond- 
ing expansion  of  labor  necessary  for  the  production  of 
goods  in  like  directions. 

336 


The  Influence  of  Machinery  on  Labor.         337 

Taking  up  some  of  the  leading  staples,  the  facts  show 
that  the  per  capita  consumption  of  cotton  in  this  country  Per  capita 

r  r  y  J     consumption  of 

in  1830  was  5.9  pounds  ;  in  1880,  13.91  pounds  ;  while  cotton, 
in  1890  the  per  capita  consumption  had  increased  to 
nearly  19  pounds.  These  figures  are  for  cotton  con- 
sumed in  our  own  country,  and  clearly  and  positively 
indicate  that  the  labor  necessary  for  such  consumption 
has  been  kept  up  to  the  standard,  if  not  beyond  the 
standard,  of  the  olden  time — that  is,  as  to  the  number 
of  people  employed. 

In  iron  the  increase  has  been  as  great  proportionately. 
In  1870  the  per  capita  consumption  of  iron  in  the  United 
States  was  105.64  pounds,  in  18S0  it  had  risen  to  204.99, 
and  in  1890  to  283.38.  While  processes  in  manufactur- 
ing iron  have  been  improved,  and  labor  displaced  to  a 
certain  extent  by  such  processes,  this  great  increase  in 
the  consumption  of  iron  is  a  most  encouraging  fact,  and 
proves  that  there  has  been  an  offset  to  the  displacement. 

The  consumption  of  steel  shows  like  results.  In  1880 
it  was  46  pounds  per  capita,  and  in  1890,  144  pounds,  of  steel. 
The  application  of  iron  and  steel  in  all  directions,  in  the 
building  trades  as  well  as  in  the  mechanic  arts,  in  great 
engineering  undertakings,  and  in  a  multitude  of  di- 
rections, only  indicates  that  labor  must  be  actively  em- 
ployed, or  such  extensions  could  not  take  place.  But  a 
more  conclusive  offset  to  the  displacement  of  labor,  con- 
sidered abstractly,  is  shown  by  the  statistics  of  persons 
engaged  in  all  occupations.  From  i860  to  1890,  a 
period  of  thirty  years,  and  the  most  prolific  period  in 
this  country  of  inventions,  and  therefore  of  the  most  in- 
tensified influence  in  all  directions  of  their  introduction, 
the  population  increased  99.16  per  cent,  while  during 
the  same  period  the  number  of  persons  employed  in  all 
occupations — manufacturing,  agriculture,  domestic  serv- 


338       Industrial  Evolution  of  the   U?iilcd  Slates. 


Increase  of 
population  com- 
pared with 
increase  in 
persons 
employed. 


Influence 
of  telegraphy 
in  causing 
expansion. 


Of  electro- 
plating. 


ice,  everything — increased  [76.07  per  cent.  In  the 
twenty  years,  1870  to  1890,  the  population  increased 
62.41  per  cent,  while  the  number  of  persons  in  all  oc- 
cupations increased  81.80  per  cent.  An  analysis  of  these 
statements  shows  that  the  increase  of  the  number  of 
those  engaged  in  manufacturing,  mechanical,  and  mining 
industries,  those  in  which  the  influence  of  inventions  is 
most  keenly  felt,  for  the  period  from  i860  to  1890  was 
172.27  percent,  as  against  99.16  per  cent  increase  in 
the  total  population.  If  statistics  could  be  as  forcibly 
applied  to  show  the  new  occupations  brought  into  ex- 
istence by  invention,  it  is  believed  that  the  result  would 
be  still  more  emphatic. 

If  we  could  examine  scientifically  the  number  of 
created  occupations,  the  claim  that  inventions  have  dis- 
placed labor  on  the  whole  would  be  conclusively  and  em- 
phatically refuted.  Taking  some  of  the  great  industries 
that  now  exist,  and  which  did  not  exist  prior  to  the  in- 
ventions which  made  them,  we  must  acknowledge  the 
power  of  the  answer.  In  telegraphy  thousands  and 
thousands  of  people  are  employed  where  no  one  has  ever 
been  displaced.  The  construction  of  the  lines,  the 
manufacture  of  the  instruments,  the  operation  of  the 
lines — all  these  divisions  and  subdivisions  of  a  great  in- 
dustry have  brought  thousands  of  intelligent  men  and 
women  into  remunerative  employment  where  no  one 
had  ever  been  employed  before.  The  telephone  has 
only  added  to  this  accumulation  and  expansion,  and  the 
whole  field  of  electricity,  in  providing  for  the  employ- 
ment of  many  skilled  workers,  has  not  trenched  upon  the 
privileges  of  the  past.  Electroplating,  a  modern  device, 
has  not  only  added  wonderfully  to  the  employed  list  by 
its  direct  influence,  but  indirectly  by  the  introduction  of 
a  class  of  goods  which  can  be  secured  by  all  persons. 


The  Influence  of  Machinery  on  Labor.         339 

Silverware  is  no  longer  the  luxury  of  the  rich.  Through 
the  invention  of  electroplating,  excellent  ware,  with  most 
artistic  design,  can  be  found  in  almost  every  habitation 
in  America.  The  application  of  electroplating  to  nickel 
furnished  a  subsidiary  industry  to  that  of  electroplating 
generally,  and  nickelplating  had  not  been  known  half  a 
dozen  years  before  more  than  thirty  thousand  people 
were  employed  in  the  industry,  where  no  one  had  ever 
been  employed  prior  to  the  invention. 

The  railroads  offer  another  grand  illustration  of  the  of  railroads 
expansion  of  labor.     It  now  requires  more  than  three 


The  "  Pioneer,"  First  Locomotive  in  Chicago. 

quarters  of  a  million  of  people  to  operate  our  railroads, 
and  this  means  a  population  of  nearly  four  millions,  or  ,^)j™lftr0,Iper- 
one  sixteenth  of  the  whole   population   of  the  country.    alcthcm- 
The    displacement    of  the    stage  roach    and    the    stage- 
driver  was  nothing  compared  to   the  expansion  of  labor 


34©      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 

which  the  railroad  systems  of  the  country  have  created. 

ah  railroad         The  construction  of  the  roadbed  and  its  equipment  con- 
work  leads  to  _  r  t. 

expansion.  stantly  involve   the    employment  of   great   numbers — 

armies  even — of  mechanics,  while  the  operation  of  the 
roads  themselves,  as  has  been  stated,  secures  employ- 
ment to  more  than  three  quarters  of  a  million  of  people. 


A  Modern  Locomotive. 
The  Empire  State  Express  Engine  No.  999  of  the  New  Vork  Central  and  Hud- 
son River  Railroad.    This  engine  ran  for  a  considerable  distance  at  the 
rate  of  112%  miles  an  hour,  hauling  its  regular  train. 

All  this  work  of  the  railroads  has  not,  in  all  probability, 
displaced  a  single  coachman  ;  on  the  other  hand,  it  has 
created  the  demand  for  drivers  and  workers  with  horses 
and  wagons  through  the  great  expansion  of  the  express 
business,  of  cab-driving,  of  connecting  lines,  and  in  other 
directions,  which  could  not  have  taken  place  under  the 
old  stage-coach  regime. 
influence  When  the  sewing  machine  was  invented  it  was  thought 

machine.*1"2  that  the  sewing  girl's  day  was  over.  So  it  was  in  a  cer- 
tain respect.  She  can  now  earn  more  money  with  less 
physical  exhaustion  than  under  the  old  system.  Abomina- 
bly poor  as  are  the  results  of  her  efforts  now,  they  are 


The  Influence  of  Machinery  on  Labor.  341 

far  better  than  they  would  have  been  without  this  inven- 
tion. But  as  a  means  of  expansion  of  labor  the  sewing 
machine  is  a  striking  illustration.  It  has  displaced  no 
one  ;  it  has  increased  demand,  and  it  has  been  the  means 
of  establishing  great  workshops  to  supply  the  thousands 
of  machines  that  are  sold  throughout  the  world. 

The   inventions   of  Goodyear,  whereby  rubber   gum   of  rubber 
could  be  so  treated  as  -to  be  made  into  articles  of  wearing  s«ods. 
apparel,  have  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  great  in- 
dustries as  new  creations.     We  need  not  in  this  place 
consider  the  great  benefits  through  the  use  of  water- 
proof clothing.     The  mere  fact  that  great  industries  haw- 
arisen  where  none  existed  before  is  sufficient  for  our  pur- 
pose.     Much  time  might  be  taken  up  in  simply  accumu- 
lating illustrations  showing  the  expansive  force  of  inven- 
tions in  the  direction  of  creating  new  opportunities  for 
remunerative  employment.     The  facts  given  show  con-   Displacement 
clusively  that  displacement  has  been  more  than  offset  by   jjj^jj^,, 
expansion.       Yet,   if  the  question  be   asked,    Has   the 
wage-earner  received  his  just  and  equitable  share  of  the 
economic   benefits    derived    from    the   introduction    of 
machinery?  the  answer  must  be,  No.      By  this  is  meant 
his  relative  share,  compared  with  that  going  to  capital. 
In  the  struggle  for  supremacy  in  the  great  countries  de- 
voted to  mechanical  production  it  probably  has  been  im- 
possible for  him   to  share   equitably  in    such  benefits. 
Notwithstanding  this,  his  share  has  been  enormous,  and 
the  gain  to  him  such  as  to   change  his  whole  relation  to 
society  and  the  state,  such  changes   affecting  his  moral 
position. 

It  is  certainly  true — and  the  statement  is  simply  cumu- 
lative evidence  of  the  truth  of  the  view  that  expansion  of 
labor  through  inventions  has  been  equal  or  superior  to 
any  displacement  that  has  taken   place — that  in  those 


342       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


Expansion  of 
values. 


Machinery  the 
friend  of  man. 


countries  given  to  the  development  and  use  of  machin- 
ery there  is  found  the  greatest  proportion  of  employed 
persons,  and  that  in  those  countries  where  machinery  has 
been  developed  to  little  or  no  purpose  poverty  reigns,  ig- 
norance is  the  prevailing  condition,  and  civilization  con- 
sequently far  in  the  rear. 

The  expansion  of  values  as  the  result  of  the  influence 
of  machinery  has  been  quite  as  marvelous  as  in  any  other 
direction,  for  educated  labor,  supplemented  by  machin- 
ery, has  developed  small  quantities  of  inexpensive  ma- 
terial into  products  of  great  value.  This  truth  is  illus- 
trated by  taking  cotton  and  iron  ore  as  the  starting-point, 
A  pound  of  cotton,  costing  at  the  time  this  calculation 
was  made  but  1 3  cents,  has  been  developed  into  muslin 
which  sold  in  the  market  for  80  cents,  and  into  chintz 
which  sold  for  $4.  Seventy-five  cents'  worth  of  common 
iron  ore  has  been  developed  into  $5  worth  of  bar-iron, 
or  into  $10  worth  of  horse-shoes,  or  into  $180  worth  of 
table  knives,  or  into  $6, 800  worth  of  fine  needles,  or  into 
$29,480  worth  of  shirt  buttons,  or  $200,000  worth  of 
watch-springs,  or  $400,000  worth  of  hair-springs,  and 
the  same  quantity  of  common  iron  ore  can  be  made  into 
$2,500,000  worth  of  pallet  arbors.* 

The  illustrations  given,  both  of  the  expansion  of  labor 
and  the  expansion  of  values,  are  sufficiently  suggestive  of 
a  line  of  study  which,  carried  in  any  direction,  will  show 
that  machinery  is  the  friend  and  not  the  enemy  of  man, 
especially  when  man  is  considered  as  a  part  of  society 
and  not  as  an  individual. 


*  This  calculation  was  made  by  George  Woods,  LL.  D.,  of  Pittsburg,  Pa., 
and  given  by  him  in  an  address  on  "  Technical  Education,"  in  1874. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

THE    ETHICAL    INFLUENCE    OF    MACHINERY    ON    LABOR. 

According  to  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer,  ethics  compre- 
hends the  laws  of  right  living ;  and  that,  beyond  the  con-  spencer's 
duct  commonly  approved  or  reprobated  as  right  or  ethics.10" 
wrong,  it  includes  all  conduct  which  furthers  or  hinders, 
in  direct  or  in  indirect  ways,  the  welfare  of  self  or  others  ; 
that  justice,  which  formulates  the  range  of  conduct  and 
limitations  to  conduct  hence  arising,  is  at  once  the  most 
important  division  of  ethics  ;  that  it  has  to  define  the 
equitable  relations  among  individuals  who  limit  one 
another's  spheres  of  action  by  coexisting,  and  who 
achieve  their  ends  by  cooperation  ;  and  that,  beyond 
justice  between  man  and  man,  justice  between  each  man 
and  the  aggregate  of  men  has  to  be  dealt  with  by  it. 

This  constitutes  a  very  broad  definition  of  ethics,  and 
the  propositions  laid  down  by  Mr.  Spencer,  taken  by 
themselves,  are  such  as  no  moral  philosopher  can  for  a 
moment  reject,  nor  should  they  be  rejected  by  econo- 
mists, for  a  moment's  reflection  upon  their  bearing  shows 
conclusively  that  material  prosperity  is  best  subserved  by 
their  incorporation  as  chapters  in  the  laws  of  trade,  com- 
merce, and  production.  So  the  relation  of  the  wage- 
receiver  to  his  fellow-men  and  to  society  becomes  ethical, 
purely  so  ;  but  it  is  certainly  ethico-economical,  and  his    Relation  of 

...  .  .  .  wa^c-worker 

wacfes,  the  standard  of  his  living  ;  his  workinir  time,  the  to  society  is 

r      •     i-    •  1  •  •  i  •     •  '•  •    •  ethical. 

cost  of  his  living  ;  his  education,  his  interest  in  religious 
and  literary  matters,  in  art,  and   in  all  that  adorns  life, 

343 


344      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Invention  typi- 
fies our  civili- 
zation. 


are  features  surrounding  him  which  must  be  contemplated 

from  the  ethical  point  of  view.  This  thought  is  all  the 
more  emphatic  when  it  is  considered  that  invention  has 
brought  with  it  a  new  school  of  ethics.  It  is  the  type  and 
representative  of  the  civilization  of  this  period,  because 


Masonic  Temple,  Chicago. 


age  of  mind. 


Ethical  Influence  of  Machinery  on  Labor.       345 

it  embodies,  so  far  as   physics  and   economics  are  con-   Machinery  is 
cerned,  the  concentrated,  clearly  wrought-out  thought  of  ml,*  of  °dl* 
the  age.      Books  may  represent  thought  ;  machinery  or  thous|u- 
invention  is  the  embodiment  of  thought.      From  an  in- 
tellectual point  of  view,  then,  it  becomes  perfectly  legiti- 
mate to  speak  of  the  ethical  influence  of  inventions,  and 
no  consideration  of  the  relation  of  inventions  to  labor 
or  of  the  evolution  of  industry  would  be  complete  with- 
out showing  in  a  more  deeply  philosophical  sense  their 
ethical  influence  upon  the  individual  laborer. 

We  are  living  at  the  beginning  of  the  age  of  mind,  as 
illustrated  by  the  results  of  inventive  genius.  It  is  the  machmen-jhe 
age  of  intellect,  of  brain — for  brain  is  king,  and  machin- 
ery is  the  king's  prime  minister.  Wealth  of  mind  and 
wealth  of  purse  may  struggle  for  the  mastery,  but  the 
former  usually  wins,  and  gives  the  crown  to  the  Huxleys, 
Darwins,  Tyndalls,  Proctors,  Woolseys,  and  Drapers, 
rather  than  to  the  men  who  accumulate  great  fortunes. 
It  is  natural  and  logical  that  under  such  a  sovereignty  in- 
ventions should  not  only  typify  the  progress  of  the  race, 
but  that  they  should  also  have  a  clearly  marked  influ- 
ence upon  the  morals  of  peoples,  a  mixed  influence,  to 
be  sure,  as  men  are  what  we  call  good  or  evil,  but  on  the 
whole  with  the  good  vastly  predominant. 

Under  the  old  hand  system  of  labor,  or,  to  use  a  bet- 
ter term,  the  domestic  system,  which  was  displaced  when 
machinery  came  in  and  the  factory  system  became  fixed, 
the  most  demoralizing  conditions  prevailed.  Those  who 
believe  that  the  old  system  was  better  than  the  new  find 
something  poetic  in  the  idea  of  the  weaver  of  old  Eng- 
land, before  spinning  machinery  was  invented,  working 
at  his  loom  in  his  cottage,  with  his  family  about  him,  and 
from  this  reflection  fall  into  the  idyllic  sentiment  that  the 
domestic  system  surpassed  the  present.      This  sentiment 


346       Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Condition 
under  hand- 
labor  system. 


Employment 
means  the  best 
ethical  con- 
dition of  man. 


has  done  much  to  create  false  impressions  as  to  the  re- 
sults or  influence  of  machinery.  Goldsmith's  Auburn 
and  Crabbe's  Village  do  not  reflect  the  truest  picture  of 
their  country's  home  life  under  the  domestic  system  of 
labor,  for  the  domestic  laborer's  home,  instead  of  being 
the  poetic  one,  was  very  far  from  the  character  poetry 
has  given  it.  Huddled  together  in  his  hut,  not  a  cot- 
tage, the  weaver's  family  lived  and  worked,  without  com- 
fort, convenience,  good  air,  good  food,  and  without 
much  intelligence.  Drunkenness  and  theft  made  each 
home  the  scene  of  crime  and  want  and  disorder.  Super- 
stition ruled,  and  envy  swayed  the  workers.  If  the 
members  of  a  family,  endowed  with  more  virtue  and  in- 
telligence than  the  common  herd,  tried  to  so  conduct  them- 
selves as  to  secure  at  least  self-respect,  they  were  either 
abused  or  ostracized  by  their  neighbors.  The  ignorance 
under  the  old  system  added  to  the  squalor  of  the  homes 
under  it,  and  what  all  these  elements  failed  to  produce  in 
making  the  hut  an  actual  den  was  faithfully  performed, 
in  too  many  instances,  by  the  swine  of  the  family.  The 
reports  of  the  Poor  Laws  commissioners  of  England  are 
truer  exponents  of  conditions  than  poetry,  and  show 
more  faithfully  the  demoralizing  agency  of  pauperism 
and  of  all  the  other  evils  which  were  so  prolific  under  the 
hand  system  of  work. 

The  influence  of  machinery  at  the  particular  time 
spoken  of  in  the  history  of  mankind  is  usually  over- 
looked, and  so,  too,  is  the  fact  that  if  there  is  any  one 
thing  in  individuals  that  the  present  age  insists  upon  it 
is  work — employment  of  some  kind,  for  employment 
means  the  very  best  ethical  condition  of  man.  The 
lowest  and  the  most  harmful  and  the  most  expensive  ig- 
norance which  can  prevail  in  any  community  is  ignorance 
of  work,  the  want  of  some  technical  knowledge  which 


Ethical  Influence  of  Machinery  on  Labor.       347 

enables  a  man  to  earn  a  living  outside  of  a  penal  insti- 
tution, and  as  ethics  and  practical  religion  most  assuredly 
have  much  to  do  with  everything  that  affects  the  conduct 
of  life,  the  knowledge  which  enables  a  man  to  do  his 
work  well  indicates  his  ethical  relations.      Poverty  and    Relirionde- 

■'  mands  high 

pure  religion  cannot  exist  among  the  same  people,  for  °[der  of  em- 
such  a  religion  cannot  prevail  unless  the  people  arc  en- 
gaged in  that  class  of  employment  which  tends  to 
broaden  all  their  faculties,  to  awaken  not  only  their  sense 
of  duty  to  their  kind,  but  also  to  develop  their  love  of 
beauty,  of  art,  and  of  all  that  adorns  and  ennobles  life  ; 
and  such  employment  cannot  be  maintained  without  the 
vitalizing  use  of  inventions  which  exhibit  the  enduring, 
the  working,  and  the  perfect  embodiment  of  human 
ingenuity. 

We  are  hardly  aware  of  the  silent  working  influence 
of  machinery  upon  the  morals  of  the  world,  but  it  is 
recognized  in  this  particular  thought  that  has  been  out- 
lined, that  poverty  and  religion  are  not  now,  as  once,    Communism 

1  J  °  cannot  coexist 

twin  virtues.  There  arc  many  other  things  to  be  learned  with  machinery, 
from  the  influence  of  machinery  which  satisfy  this  thesis. 
Communism,  which  means  the  destruction  of  labor,  can 
not  coexist  with  machinery.  Its  use  requires  too  much 
competition,  both  social  and  industrial,  to  admit  of  com- 
munism. The  states,  therefore,  devoted  to  industries 
which  require  the  use  of  machines  to  a  large  extent  are 
safe  from  the  inroads  of  communism  and  communistic 
socialism,  for  without  machinery  the  world  would  neces- 
sarily retrograde  to  superstition  and  to  ignorance,  and 
the  ingenuity  of  man  would  assume  its  old  place  among 
the  unused  (acuities  of  the  mind. 

The  ethical  effects  of  the  division  of  labor  which    has    Benefits  to 
resulted   from   the   application  of  machinery  are    very  appre 
marked.      Trades   are    hardly   essential   now.      The  ap- 


34S       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    I  T//ited  Stales. 


Effect  of  man- 
ual training. 


Gain  in  time. 


In  wages. 


In  demand, cost, 
and  increased 
product. 


prentice  boy,  if  bright,  can  learn  his  trade  in  less  than 
the  time  required  in  the  old  way,  under  which  he  cannot 
become  a  journeyman  until  he  has  been  pronounced 
such  by  the  time  spent  in  his  apprenticeship.  After  he 
becomes  skilful  his  wages  are  usually  exploited  to  the 
extent  of  his  skill,  and  he  is  obliged  to  contribute  more 
in  the  way  of  actual  earnings  than  he  receives.  But 
this  is  not  the  worst  result  of  the  apprenticeship  system. 
Finding  that  he  is  robbed  by  it,  he  finally  undertakes  to 
earn  no  more  than  he  is  paid,  and  so  acquires  habits  of 
unthrift  which  follow  him  through  life.  These  things 
have  caused  the  apprentice  boy  to  disappear  practically 
from  the  industrial  world.  Through  manual  training 
and  the  results  of  the  trade  school,  a  boy  can  utilize  his 
whole  time,  and  as  soon  as  he  becomes  accomplished  or 
well  equipped  in  his  particular  trade  he  can  command 
the  wages  legitimately  his  due.  He  has  had  the  expe- 
rience of  good  training,  and  he  has  the  advantage  over 
the  old  apprentice,  both  in  the  saving  of  time  and  in  the 
more  immediate  reward  which  his  skill  commands.  But 
the  ethical  influences  of  machinery  are  shown  in  other 
directions,  for  with  the  diversity  of  employment  which 
has  resulted  from  its  adoption  there  have  come  shorter 
hours  of  labor  and  consequently  increased  opportunities 
for  mental  and  moral  improvement.  With  this  gain  of 
time  wages  have  been  greatly  increased  and  the  cost  of 
the  principal  articles  of  consumption  constantly  re- 
duced. 

As  to  production,  one  illustration  must  serve  for  all, 
and  this  is  drawn  from  the  cotton  industry.  A  fair  adult 
hand-loom  weaver  can  weave  from  42  to  48  yards  of 
common  shirting  per  week  ;  a  weaver  in  a  modern  fac- 
tory, tending  six  power-looms,  can  turn  out  about  1,500 
yards  per  week.     On  the  hand-wheel   (one  spindle)  a 


Ethical  Influence  of  Machinery  on  Labor.       349 

spinner  can  turn  off  eight  ounces  of  number  ten  cloth 
yarn  in  ten  hours,  or  three  pounds  in  one  week  ;  the 
operator  of  the  mule  spinning  machine  can  turn  out  over 
3,000  pounds  in  the  same  time.  All  this  means  a  cor- 
responding decrease  in  price. 

The  hours  of  labor  have  been  reduced  from  twelve  or  It1  reduction  of 
thirteen  per  day  in  the  same  industry  to  nine  and  one  hours- 
half  in  England  and  ten  generally  in  this  country.  An 
examination  of  statistical  tables  will  convince  any  one 
that  for  most  divisions  of  labor  in  textile  factories  wages 
have  been  nearly  doubled  during  the  past  sixty  or 
seventy  years,  and  such  examination  will  show  like  re- 
sults for  very  many  other  industries. 

This  inevitable  ethical  result  of  the  application  of 
machinery  has  been  to  enable  man  to  secure  a  livelihood 
in  less  time  than  of  old,  and  this  is  grand  of  itself,  if  no 
other  advantage  had  been  secured  ;  for  it  must  be  con- 
sidered that  as  the  time  required  to  earn  a  living  grows 
shorter  civilization  advances,  and  that  any  system  which 
demands  of  a  man  all  his  time  or  the  greater  portion  of 
it  for  the  earning  of  mere  subsistence  must  be  demoraliz- 
ing in  all  respects.  The  moral  condition  of  man  has  been 
improved  through  the  improvement  of  his  health.  In 
warm  and  comfortable  clothing,  in  water-proof  material, 
in  heating  and  lighting,  in  a  thousand  ways,  invention 
has  carried  with  it  more  comfortable  conditions,  increased 
health,  and  an   increased   longevity,  the  average  of  life   Increasein 

.  .  average  life. 

at  present  being  ten  per  cent  higher  than  in  the  olden 
time.  Low  grades  of  labor  are  constantly  giving  place 
to  educated  labor.  The  man  who  used  to  do  the  most 
detestable  forms  of  work  is  being  displaced  everywhere 
by  men  of  professional  and  technical  training,  who  super- 
intend some  <U\ ice  brought  into  use  by  invention.  So 
the  constant  promotion  of  luxuries  to  the  grade  of  neces- 


350      Industrial  Evolution  of  the   United  States. 


Luxuries  have 
become  neces- 


Rapid  transit. 


Machinery 

marks 

progress. 


saries  of  life  marks  the  forward  steps  of  civilization. 
What  once  were  luxuries  to  one  class  are  now  the  neces- 
saries of  life  to  a  class  that  might  be  considered  below 
the  first.  This  is  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  there  was  a 
time  when  a  linen  sheet  was  worth  thirty-two  days  of 
common  labor,  and  when  a  gridiron  cost  from  four  to 
twelve  days  of  labor. 

Prior  to  the  generation  which  precedes  the  present  the 
fastest  time  that  could  be  made  was  through  the  speed 
of  man,  or  of  horses,  or  of  sailing  vessels,  except,  per- 
haps, in  the  occasional  transmission  of  intelligence  by  sig- 
nals. The  very  first  change  in  the  way  of  speed  in  trans- 
portation or  in  the  interchange  of  intelligence  came  to  the 
world  within  the  memory  of  men  now  living.  Engineering 
enterprises  are  solving  the  problem  of  how  to  relieve 
congested  cities  and  of  how  to  give  to  the  wage-worker, 
who  must  save  time  as  between  his  lodging  and  his  work, 
the  benefits  of  healthful  surroundings  in  the  country. 
Rapid  transit,  through  the  application  of  electricity  to 
street  cars,  has  in  many  cases  added  from  one  half  to 
three  quarters  of  an  hour  of  the  day  to  the  workingman's 
available  time.  This  is  the  influence  of  invention,  and  a 
moral  influence,  for  it  betters  his  condition,  helps  him 
to  a  higher  plane,  facilitates  social  intercourse,  and  in 
everyway  gives  him  better  opportunities  for  enjoying  all 
that  belongs  to  his  environment. 

Every  machine  that  is  invented  marks  some  progress 
in  a  useful  art.  It  accomplishes  some  useful  end  not  be- 
fore attained,  or  it  does  some  old  work  better  and 
cheaper.  It  makes  more  valuable  the  day's  work  of  an 
operative,  and  it  adds  to  everything  that  makes  life 
agreeable,  provided  there  is  thrift  and  prudence  behind 
the  worker.  If  there  is  any  ethical  influence  in  the 
study  of  or  familiarity  with  works  of  art,  certainly  ma- 


Ethical  Influence  of  Machinery  on  labor.       351 

chinery  has  had  a  very  deep  ethical  influence,  for  by  the 
aid  of  mechanical  powers  the  work  of  artisans  is  rapidly 
making  the  taste  of  the  people  artistic,  for  trained  and 
inventive  skill,  as  exhibited  in  machinery,  puts  art  into 
wood  and  metal,  showing-  "the  highest  discipline  of  the 
mental  faculties,  the  direction  and  subordination  of  all 
its  manifestations  for  some  clearly-defined  purpose." 
But  it  has  gone  beyond  and  has  brought  to  the  common- 
est person  some  of  the  results  of  the  highest  artistic  skill 
in  the  world.  Copies  of  great  pictures,  the  works  of 
the  great  masters,  are  familiar  to  the  common  people. 
Once  only  one  man  could  own  a  great  picture  ;  to  him 
and  to  his  friends  all  the  joy  that  conies  of  beholding  the   Makes  art 

.  common  to  all. 

artistic  production  was  limited.  To-day,  while  he  owns 
the  original,  the  people  own  the  picture,  and  the  artist 
and  his  influence  serve  all,  and  he  is  enabled  not  only  to 
unlock  the  stores  of  art  which  the  world  holds,  but  by 
the  cheapening  of  publication  he  can  unlock  the  stores 
of  knowledge 

There  is  one  feature  which  belongs  to  the  ethical  in-  M.u,llinerv 
fluence  of  machinery  to  which  attention  ought  to  be  iL"foranceCreate 
called.  The  argument  is  often  made  that  by  its  use  there 
is  brought  into  industrial  work  an  ignorant  class  of  work- 
ers, but  this  argument  is  baseless.  There  is  no  more  ig- 
norance in  the  world  on  account  of  inventions,  but  by 
their  perfection  an  ignorant  class  can  often  do  perfectly 
what  an  intelligent  class  used  to  bungle  over,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  intelligence  of  the  ignorant  is  raised.  The 
ignorant  laborer  of  to-day  is,  in  all  that  makes  up 
condition,  more  than  the  peer  of  the  skilled  workman  of 
a  few  generations  ago,  and  the  fact  that  as  the  country 
increases  in  wealth  the  numbers  employed  in  miscellaneous 
industries,  as  lias  been  shown  in  the  preceding  chapter, 
and  what  Mr.  David  A.  Wells  calk  incorporeal  (unctions 


352       Industrial  Evolution  of  the    United  States. 


It  congregates 
ignorant 
laborers  and 
then  elevates 
them. 


— that  is,  artists,  teachers,  and  others  who  minister  to 
taste  and  comfort  in  a  way  that  can  hardly  be  called  ma- 
terial— increase  disproportionately  to  those  engaged  in 
the  production  of  the  great  staples,  answers  the  idea  that 
inventions  foster  ignorance  in  production.  Inventions 
have,  indeed,  superinduced  the  congregation  of  ignorant 
laborers,  and  thereby  given  the  appearance  of  creating 
ignorant  labor.  The  great  fact  remains  that  as  ignorant 
laborers  are  brought  together  their  condition  attracts  at- 
tention and  the  public  proceeds  at  once  to  bring  to  them 
educational  facilities.  Invention  was  the  cause  of  the 
better  condition,  for  it  was  not  until  the  factory  system 
was  thoroughly  fixed  as  the  industrial  system  of  England 
that  Parliament  brought  under  educational  influences  the 
children  of  the  factory.  To  machinery  must  be  attrib- 
uted the  great  extension  of  the  facilities  for  educating  the 
masses.  The  centers  devoted  to  industrial  pursuits  are 
the  centers  of  thought,  of  mental  friction,  of  intelligence, 
and  of  progress. 


INDEX. 


Agricultural  implements,  displacement 
of  hand  labor  in  manufacture  of, 
326  ;  wages  in  manufacture  of,  1S60- 
90,  219. 

Agriculture,  12 ;  per  capita  value  of 
products  of,  160  ;  report  of  United 
States  Commissioner  of,  for  1865,  151; 
southern  colonies  devoted   to,   100. 

Allegheny  Valley  Railroad,  strike  on 
the,  302. 

Amalgamated  Association  of  Iron  and 
Steel  Workers,  309. 

American  Federation  of  Labor,  245, 
253-260,  262 ;  constitution  of,  257  ; 
date  of  organization  under  pres- 
ent name,  254 ;  estimated  member- 
ship of,  260;  friction  between  the 
and  tin-  Knights  of  Labor,  257  ;  gen- 
eral aim  of  the,  254;  list  of  orders 
affiliated  with  the,  25S-259 ;  mani- 
festo of  the,  256-257  ;  not  a  secret 
order,  25S  ;  objects  of  the,  259. 

American  industrial  history,  trend  of, 
23- 

American  Railway  Union,  245,  260-262, 
315;  composition  of  the,  261  ;  date 
of  organization,  260;  distinctive 
features  of  the,  261  ;  strike,  317. 

Anchors,  manufacture  of,  88. 

Arbitration,  boards  of,  289  ;  boards  of, 
may  tender  services,  290;  compul- 
sory, 290  ;  difficulties  of  1  ompulsi  11  \ , 
291;    federal    law   relating  (■ 
voluntary,  289;  and  conciliate 

Architecture,  domestic,  74. 

Area,  centei  1 

Arkwriyht,   Richard,  121,  124,  [25,  14s. 

Arms,  small,  displacement  of  hand 
labor  in  manufactui  eof, 

Articles,  cost  of  all,  averaged  accord- 
ing to  importance,  1840-90,  227. 

Bakery  products,  \alue  i>f,  iv.,,-,,,,, 
172. 


Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  strike 
on  the,  301. 

Bar-iron,  definition  of,  84. 

Bells,  cast  at  New  Haven,  87. 

Bessemer  steel,  manufacture  of,  178. 

Bicycles,  manufacture  of,  180. 

Bishop,  J.  Leander,  "History  of 
American  Manufactures,"  29,  43,  57, 
58,  95.  97- 

Bloomers,  definition  of,  83. 

Boatbuilding  at  Plymouth,  29,  31. 

Bog  ore,  definition  of,  81  ;  discovery 
of,  in  Maryland,  95. 

Book,  first  printed  in  the  colonies,  62. 

Bookbinding,  69. 

Books  and  newspapers,  wages  in  pro- 
duction of,  1842-90,  219. 

Booksellers,  number  of,  in  the  colo- 
nies prior  to  1775,  68. 

Bookselling  and  printing  combined, 68. 

Boot  and  shoe  industry,  increase  of 
women  in,  1850-90,  20S  ;  value  of 
product  of,  in  i860,  139. 

Boot  and  shoemaking,  141. 

Boots  and  shoes,  displacement  ol  hand 
laboi  in  manufacture  of,  327;  increase 
in  number  of  employees  in  manufac- 
ture of,  1860-90,  iwi;  increase  in 
wages  of  employees  in  manufacture 
of,  1S60-90,  194. 

Boston,  convention  of,  237-238;  ship- 
building at,  30;  spinning  school  in,  58. 

Boyi  ott,  law  of  Illinois  relating  to,  320; 
in  i.^in  of,  318. 

Brick  ami  tile,  capital  invested  in 
manufacture  of,  1860-90,  [84;  value 
of  produi  tion  of,  [860-90,  i^|. 

Brickmaking,  displacement  of  hand 
labor  in,  326. 

Bricks, exportation  of, 78;  lust  made 
in  Virginia,  76. 

Broadcloth,  manufacture  of  In  Con- 
no  tii  ut,  47. 


354 


Index. 


Broom-making,  displacement  of  hand 

labor  in,  329. 
Building  materials,  13. 

Building    trades,    wages    in,   1S40-90, 

219-222. 
Buildings  and  building  materials,  71- 

79- 
Butter,  manufacture  of,  175. 
Butterine,  manufacture  of,  175. 
California,  discovery  of  gold  in,  13. 

Canned  goods,  value  of,  171. 

Cannon,  cast  in  Maryland,  96;  manu- 
facture of,  88. 

Capital,  relation  of,  to  product,  194. 

Card  teeth,  manufacture  of,  55. 

Carding  machines,  95. 

Carnegie  Steel  Company,  309. 

Carpets,  capital  invested  in  produc- 
tion of,  1S60-90,  164 ;  displacement 
of  hand  labor  in  manufacture  of,  329; 
production  of,  1860-90,  164. 

Carriages  and  wagons,  displacement 
of  hand  labor  in  manufacture  of, 
329;  wages  in  manufacture  of,  1S40- 
90,  224. 

Census,  constitutional  provision  for, 
14  ;  of  i860,  159 ;  Superintendent  of, 
119. 

Cereals,  exports  of,  1789,  74. 

Charcoal,  consumption  of,  1S1. 

Cheese,  manufacture  of,  174-175. 

Chicago  strike,  1894,  313-320;  cause 
of,  313-314  ;  lesson  of  the,  317  ;  loss 
on  account  of  the,  315. 

Children,  acts  of  legislature  of  Massa- 
chusetts regarding,  270,  271-272,  276- 
277  ;  legislation  relative  to  employ- 
ment of,  212. 

Children  and  women,  average  earn- 
ings of,  in  cotton  manufacturing 
states,  210. 

Children  employees,  number  of,  in  all 
industries,  1S70-90,  207. 

Cities,  number  of,  having  a  population 
of  more  than  8,000  each,  17. 

Civil  War,  a  great  labor  movement, 
152;  manufactures  stimulated  by, 
1S8. 

Clapboards,  exportation   of,  25,  2S,  71. 

Cloth  manufacture,  effect  of  Revolu- 
tion on,  55. 


Clothing,  displacement  of  hand  labor 
in  manufacture  of,  330. 

Clothing  industry,  growth  of,  139; 
value  of  product  of,  in  i860,  139. 

Clothing,  ladies,'  capital  invested  in 
manufacture  of,  1860-90,  168  ;  prod- 
uct of,  1860-90,  168 ;  men's,  1860-90, 
167-168;  Virginia  colonists  depend- 
ent upon  England  for,  28. 

Cloth-making,  prohibition   of,  45. 

Coal,  13,  100. 

Coke,  capital  invested  in  manufacture 
of,  1860-90,  180 ;  increase  in  con- 
sumption of,  182  ;  value  of  produc- 
tion of,  1860-90,  180. 

Colonies,  population  of,  14. 

Commerce,  12. 

Commercial  conditions,  change  in, 
118. 

Connecticut,  discovery  of  copper  in, 
86 ;  discovery  of  iron  in,  85  ;  erection 
of  tide-mills  in,  47  ;  first  attempts  at 
the  production  of  steel  in,  86;  first 
church  erected  in,  75  ;  first  merchant 
vessel  built  in,  33  ;  manufacture  of 
broadcloth  in,  47 ;  production  of 
woolen  cloth  in,  47  ;  progress  of  iron 
manufacture  in,  S7  ;  shipbuilding  in, 
33  ;  Washington's  visit  to,  47. 

Conspiracy,  attitude  of  courts  on  the 
doctrine  of,  2S3-2S5 ;  definition  of, 
by  legislatures,  285;  laws,  changes 
in,  2S3  ;'  peaceable  organization  not, 
286  ;  what  constitutes,  2S4-285. 

Constitution,  federal,  adoption   of,  14. 

Constitution  of  17S9,  benefits  of,  in  de- 
veloping industry,  123. 

Copper,  discovery  of,  S3  ;  in  Con- 
necticut, So;  in  Pennsylvania,  93. 

Copper  coins,  striking  of,  87. 

Cordage,  26. 

Cotton,  capital  invested  in,  1S60-90, 
162;  consumption  of,  156;  cultiva- 
tion of,  in  Delaware,  51  ;  cultivation 
of,  in  Maryland,  51  ;  cultivation  of,  in 
South  Carolina,  51  ;  cultivation  of, 
transferred  to  the  South,  52 ;  de- 
crease of  culture  of,  in  Delaware,  52  ; 
decrease  of,  in  Maryland,  52;  expor- 
tation of,  13  ;  first  supplies  of,  51  ; 
increased  consumption  of,   134 ;  per 


Judex. 


355 


capita  consumption  of,  337  ;  produc- 
tion of,  prior  to  the  war,  156 ;  pro- 
duction of,  since  the  war,  156;  the 
leading  industry,  162  ;  use  of,  stimu- 
lated by  cotton-gin,  129;  value  of 
pound  of,  when  manufactured  into 
various  articles,  342  ;  value  of  prod- 
uct of,  1860-90,  162. 

Cotton  factories,  number  of,  at  differ- 
ent periods,  133-134. 

Cotton  factory,  first  using  English 
methods,  125. 

Cotton-gin,  95,  128;  definition  of,  128; 
influence  of,  145;  invention  of,  128. 

Cotton  goods,  total  value  of,  in  i860, 
139;  value  of,  at  different  periods, 
I34_I35 >  wages  in  manufacture  of, 
1840-90,  218. 

Cotton  industry,  capital  invested  in,  at 
different  periods,  134  ;  growth  of,  133; 
in  Southern  States,  135. 

Cotton  machinery,  early,  in  South 
Carolina,  127;  efforts  to  secure,  in 
America,  54. 

Cotton  manufacture,  displacement  of 
hand  labor  in, 332;  early  attempts  at, 
in  Philadelphia,  55  ;  views  of  Alex- 
ander Hamilton  on,  53. 

Cotton-mill  operatives,  wages  of,  216. 

Cotton-raising,  51. 

Cotton-spinning  and  weaving,  51. 

Crompton,  Samuel,  56,  145. 

Currency  and  gold  prices  compared, 
228. 

Cut-nails,  attempts  to  make,  84. 

Delaware,  cultivation  of  cotton  in,  5]  ; 
decrease  of  cotton  culture  in,  52  ; 
first  press  in,  64;  iron  in,  95  ;  ship- 
building in,  39. 

Displacement  of  labor,  definition  of, 
323;  offset  by  expansion,  341. 

Domain,  national,  ti,  12;  public,  [2. 

Domestic  s\  sti  m  oi  labi  >r,  ■  1. 

'•  Double-header,"  definition  of,  303. 

Duties,  first  act  levying,  11S;  varia- 
tion in,  118. 

Dwellings,  development   of,  75;  early, 

74-75- 
Dyeing  and  finishing,  capital  invested 
in,  1860-90, 166;  value  of  product  of, 

1860-90, 166. 


Earnings,  average,  191,  210 ;  of  employ- 
ees, 196;  of  men,  women,  ami  chil- 
dren, 198-199;   of  officers    and  firm 

members,  196 ;  of  piece-workers,  197; 

of  women  and    children     in     cotton 

manufacturing  states,  210. 
Elei  tricity,  application    of,   to    street 

cars,  350. 
Electroplating,    influence  of,  in   caus- 
ing expansion  of  labor,  33S. 
Ely,  Richard  T.,  "Labor  Movement  i  1 1 

America,"  236,  241,243,319. 
Employees,  increase  in  number  of,  193  ; 

total  number  of,  1850-90,  191  ;    total 

wanes  paid  to  all,  192. 
Employers'  liability,  278-282;  laws  ol 

various  states  relating  to,  282. 
English  laws,  prohibiting  exportation 

of  machines,  122;  restrictions  of,  47, 

122. 

English     machinery,    Samuel     Slater 

fust  to  erect,  128. 
English    methods,   first    factory  using, 

125. 
English     policy    toward     the    United 

Slates,  120. 

English  prohibitive  measun 

English   vessels,  first  on    the  Great 

Lakes,  37. 

Expansion  ol  labor,  definition  of,  325, 
Exports,  early,   from    Plymouth,   28; 

fust,  25;  value  of,  in  1789,  102;  value 
1  'i.  in  [894,  19. 
Exports  and  imports,  ol  Maryland,  48; 
of  Virginia,  48. 

Fa<  tOl  ies,  inspection  of,  277. 

Factory,   first  textile,   124;    perfection 

ol   the,  1.'. 1  ;   laws  of,  278. 

Fa<  tory  System,  24  ;  climatic  in  linen,  e 
no  obstai  le  to  iis  ,  xtension   in  the 
South,  1  >|  ;  de\  elopment  of  the,  117 
131 ;  efforts  to  establish  the, 
thi    I  failed  Slates,  report  on  the,  1  [9  ; 
w  ide  application  1  il 

Fai  Ills,    \  able    ol    pi, ..111.  !•-    ol,   in 

1  ■ 
Fisheries,  13,  >t  ;  per  capita  value  of 
produi  ts  oi.  Km,  ;  value  ol  produi  t  of, 

in  [881 

Flax,  .'I',  56-57  ;  1  ultivation  of,  57 ; 
methods  ol  spinning,  57;  use, 


356 


Index. 


Flour,  capital  invested  in  manufacture 

of,  1860-90,  172  ;  value  of  product  of, 

1860-90, 172. 
Flour-mills,  number  of,  173. 
Food   products,    capital    invested    in, 

1860-90,  171  ;  value  of,  1860-90,  171— 

172. 
Foot-wear,  capital  invested  in  manu- 
facture  of,    1860-90,    169 ;    value  of 

product  of,  1860-90,  169-171. 
Forest  products,  exportation  of,  from 

Plymouth,  28. 
Forests,   13;    value  of  product   of,    in 

1889,  14. 
Forges,  definition  of,  83  ;  number  of, 

in  Maryland  at  close  of  seventeenth 

century,  97. 
Foundry,  definition  of,  83. 
Franklin,  Benjamin,  64,  66,  149. 
Fulling-mill,  definition  of,  46  ;  erection 

of,    at    Salem,    46 ;     erection    of,   in 

North  Carolina,  50;  first,  at  Rowley, 

46;  first,  in  Virginia,  48. 
Furnace,  definition  of,  83. 
Furniture,  displacement  of  hand  labor 

in  manufacture  of,  334. 
Furs,  exportation  of,  from  Plymouth, 

28. 
General    Managers'   Association,   314, 

315- 

Georgia,  coal  in,  100 ;  first  press  in,  64  ; 

gold  in,  100;  iron  in,  100. 
Glass,  25,  7S-79,  334. 
Glass  industry,  displacement  of  hand 

labor  in,  334. 
Glassmaking,  78-79. 
Gold,  13;  in  Georgia,  100. 
Gold  and  currency  prices  compared, 

228. 
Gold  mines,  13. 
Goodyear,  inventions  of,  341. 
Gould  system  of  railroads,  strikes  on, 

307-308. 
Great  Britain,  dependence  of  the  states 

upon,  119. 
Great   Lakes,   carrying  trade  of,   19 ; 

first    English    vessels    on    the,    37 ; 

shipbuilding  on  the,  36-37. 
Great    Northern    Railroad,   strike  on 

the,  317. 
Grist-mills,  73,  74. 


Guns,  manufacture  of,  90. 
Gutta-percha  and  india  rubber,  capital 

invested  in  manufacture  of,  1860-90, 

184-185;     value    of  production    of, 

1860-90,  184. 
Hamilton,  Alexander,  report  of,  200 ; 

report  on  manufactures,  102  ;  views 

of,  on  cotton  manufacture,  53. 
Handicrafts,  attempts  to  establish,  27. 
Hank,  definition  of,  331. 
Hargreaves,  James,  121, 145. 
Hemp,  26,  57;  cultivation  of,  57. 
Historic  strikes,  301-312. 
Holland,  home  of  the  woolen  industry, 

43- 
Hollow-ware  furnaces,  84. 
Home  manufactures,  necessity  of,  47. 
Homestead  strike,  309-312. 
Illinois,  law  of,   relating  to  boycotts, 

320. 
Immigration,  16,  146. 
Imports,  value  of,  in  1S94,  19. 
Imports  and  exports  of  Maryland,  48; 

of  Virginia,  48. 
India  rubber  and  gutta-percha,  capital 

invested  in  manufacture  of,  1860-90, 

184-185;     value     of    production    of, 

1860-90,  184-185. 
India  rubber  goods,  value  of,  in  i860, 

139- 

Indigo,  introduction  of,  59. 

Industrial  conciliation  and  arbitration, 
288. 

Industries,  classification  of,  in  1890, 
209 ;  concentration  of,  196  ;  de- 
velopment of,  1790-1860,  132-142  ; 
1860-90,  159-1SS;  expansion  of,  since 
1800,  132  ;  review  of,  during  colonial 
period,  101  ;  the  inception  0^23-32; 
value  of  product  of  manufacturing, 
159-160;  wages  in  all, 1S40-90,  223. 

Industry,  benefits  of  constitution  of 
1789  in  developing,  123;  colonial 
status  of,  11S;  diversification  of,  in 
the  North,  14S ;  influence  of  labor 
organizations  on  development  of, 
263 ;  Knights  of,  253 ;  the  evolution 
of,  23-114,  117-228;  women  and 
children  in,  200-214. 

Influence  of  machinery  on  labor,  the, 
323-352. 


Index. 


357 


International  Typographical  Union, 
243- 

Invention,  accountable  for  employment 
of  women,  203. 

Inventions,  application  of,  to  textile 
machinery,  163 ;  by  mechanics  of 
Philadelphia,  95  ;  expansive  force  of, 
341  ;  influence  of,  140-142,  187. 

Iron,  13  ;  discovery  of,  in  Connecticut, 
85;  exports  of,  from  New  York,  90  ; 
exports  of,  from  Pennsylvania,  93; 
from  the  colonies,  101  ;  first  article 
of,  82;  first,  manufactured  in  Vir- 
ginia, 97  ;  in  Connecticut,  S7  ;  in  Del- 
aware, 95;  in  Georgia,  too;  in 
Maryland,  95  ;  in  New  Jersey,  90;  in 
North  Carolina,  99  ;  in  Pennsylvania, 
92  ;  in  Rhode  Island,  84  ;  per  capita 
consumption  of,  337. 

Iron  and  steel,  capital  invested  in 
manufacture  of,  1860-90,  177;  value 
of  product  of,  1860-90,  177. 

Iron  and  steel  industry,  growth  of, 
176. 

Iron  foundry,  first  at   Pittsburg,  136. 

Iron  industry,  encouragement  of,  90  ; 
general  progress  in  the,  [35  ;  indii  a- 
tive  charactei  of,  [37;  revolution  in, 
136;  the,  80-103. 

Iron  ore,  discovery  of,  13;  discovery 
of,  west  of  the  Alleghenies,  136;  ex- 
portation of,  26;  in  the  colonies,  80 
si  ;  west  "I  the  Blue  Ridge,  98. 

Iron  wire,  manufacture  of,  55. 

I  Km  winking,  23. 

iron  works,  development  of,  in  Vir- 
ginia, 98-99;  erection  of,  in  New 
York,  87;  establishment  of,  in  Vir- 
ginia, 26;  fiist  in  Massachusetts, 8i  ; 
first  in  New  York,. SS;  first  in  South 
Carolina,  100;  number  of,  in  New 
England,  S3 ;  stimulated  by  tin- 
Revolution,  96. 

Knights  of  Labor,  245-263;  attitude  of, 
relative  to  strikes,  251  ;  constitution 
of,  251  ;  dei  1. 11  ations  of  prim  ipli  s, 
249;  demands  of,  250 ;  estimated 
present  membership,  248 ;  growth  of, 
248 ;  instructions  of,  to  new  members, 
247 ;  intellectual  histoi  y  of, 
known  as  "  Five  Stars,"  247  ;   litera- 


ture of,  252 ;  measures  favored  by, 
250;  measures  opposed  by,  251. 

Labor,  antagonism  of  systems  of,  148  ; 
bureau  of,  275  ;  capitalization  of,  145  ; 
cheapness  of,  under  slavery,  150; 
classification  of  skilled  and  un- 
skilled, 19S ;  comparison  of  hand 
and  machine,  334;  consequences  ol 
congregated,  266;  contraction  of, 
324;  controversies,  293-300;  cost  of 
slave,  151;  definition  of  disp 
ment  of,  323  ;  definition  of  expansion 
of,  325;  displacement  of  hand,  by 
machinery,  133,  323-335;  dis] 
ment  offset  by  expansion  of,  341  ; 
domestic  system  of,  24;  effects  of 
expensive,  59;  establishment  of  first 
bureau  of  statistics  of,  275  ;  estab- 
lishment of  United  States  Depart- 
ment of,  275;  ethical  influenci  of, 
325;  ethical  influence  of  machinery 
on)  343-352;  expansion  of,  by  use  of 
machinery,  336;  expansion  of,  caused 
by  railroads,  339;  extent  of  organ 
ized,  262;  free  contrasted  with  slave, 
151  ;  high  price  of,  67;  influence  ol 
electroplating   in   causing  expansion 

°fi  33s;  influence  of  machinerj  on, 
323-352;  influence  of  telegraphy  in 
causing  expansion  of,  338;  influence 
of  telephone  in  causing  expansion 

°f>  338 ;  'oi'g  hours  of,  242  ;  organiza- 
tion of,  232-233,  238-240,  241-265;  re- 
duction  of   hours  of,    through   ina- 

■  liinn  \  ,   ;|'i  ;   1 1  ^illation  ol   hours  of, 

in   Massachusetts,  skilled, 

dear  in  North  Carolina,  too;  United 
States  1  lepartmenl  of,  29 

Labot   ami  Kites  of  wage 
21.5-228. 

Labor  and  wages,  104-1  \\. 

Labor  legislation,  273  292;    su arj 

of,    291-292 ;    the  basis    ol.  21 
the  grow  th  ol 

Labor  literature,  earl 

Laboi  movement,  inception  ol  the,  231- 
1  -320. 

Labor   organizatioi  influ- 

enci of,  on  <li  \  elopmenl  ol  industi  j , 

iltiliated  with  the  Amel  i- 

i        ration  of  Laboi 


35* 


Index. 


Labor  question  defined,  231. 

Labor-saving  machinery,  325. 

Lakes,  Great,  carrying  trade  of,  19. 

Land,  value  of,  in  1890,  14. 

Laws,  manufacturers  hampered  by,  59. 

Lead  ore,  discovery  of,  13. 

Leather-making,  displacement  of  hand 
labor  in,  334. 

Lehigh  Valley  Railroad,  strike  on  the, 
1894,  317. 

Limestone,  76. 

Linen,  general  use  of,  57. 

Linen  manufactures,  58. 

Lockout,  definition  of,  293. 

Lockouts  and  strikes,  293-320. 

Loom,  English  power,  for  weaving 
calico,  130;  hand,  43,  45;  power,  of 
Edward  Cartwright,  119;  product  of 
hand,  331,  332;  product  of  power, 
33i- 

Lumber,  etc.,  capital  invested  in 
manufacture  of,  1S60-90, 184 ;  exports 
°f>  73  !  value  of  product  of,  1860-90, 
184  ;  wages  in  production  of,  1840- 
90,  220. 

Lumber  products,  value  of,  14. 

Machine  and  hand  labor,  comparison 
of,  334- 

Machinery,  age  of,  345;  birth  of  age 
of,  323  ;  displacement  of  hand  labor 
by,  323-335  ;  economic  influence  of, 
323 ;  effect  of  adoption  of,  on 
labor,  192  ;  efforts  to  secure  cotton, 
in  America,  54  ;  ethical  influence  of, 
on  labor,  343-352;  expansion  of  labor 
by,  336-342  ;  gain  in  wages  as  result 
of,  348  ;  influence  of,  on  expansion  of 
values,  342;  influence  of,  on  labor, 
323-352;  invention  of  cotton,  in  Eng- 
land, 54 ;  labor-saving,  323-352  ; 
reduction  of  hours  of  labor  through, 
349;  results  in  expansion,  195;  spin- 
ning, 55. 

Machines  and  machinery,  displace- 
ment of  hand  labor  in  manufacture 
of,  334- 

Maine,  brick-kilns  in,  77  ;  shipbuilding 
in,  32. 

Manual  training,  advantages  of,  348. 

Manufactures,  accounts  of,  for  1810 
and  i860,  137-138  ;  analysis  of,   186  ; 


capital  invested  in,  1860-90,  159-160; 
difficulties  of  establishing,  121  ;  dis- 
tribution and  value  of,  in  i860,  139- 
140;  distribution  of  products  of,  in 
1810,  138;  distribution  of  products 
of,  in  1890,  187 ;  encouragement 
of,  by  South  Carolina,  50;  esti- 
mate of  value  of,  102  ;  growth  of, 
in  one  hundred  years,  187 ;  home, 
necessity  of,  47  ;  per  capita  value  of 
products  of,  160;  proportion  of 
population  engaged  in,  189  ;  report 
on,  by  Alexander  Hamilton,  102 ; 
stimulated  by  Civil  War,  188  ;  value 
of,  in  1790,  102;  value  of  products  of, 
in  1810,  138;  value  of  product  of, 
1860-90,  159,  160. 

Manufacturing  industries,  capital  in- 
vested in,  1860-90,  159,  160;  value  of 
product  of,  1S60-90,  159,  160. 

Marble,  76. 

Maryland,  bog  ore  discovered  in,  95  ; 
cannon  cast  in,  96 ;  cultivation  of 
cotton  in,  51  ;  decrease  of  cotton 
culture  in,  52;  imports  and  exports 
of,  48;  iron  in,  95;  legislative  en- 
couragement of  mechanic  arts  in, 
96;  number  of  forges  in,  at  close  of 
seventeenth  century,  97 ;  printing 
in,  64 ;  reputation  of  pig-iron  in,  97  ; 
shipbuilding  in,  39-40. 

Massachusetts,  acts  of  legislature  of, 
regarding  children,  270,  271-272; 
Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor, 
224,  237,  278,  282,  292;  commis- 
sion of  1S66  and  1867,  recom- 
mendations of,  273,  274  ;  establish- 
ment of  first  bureau  of  statistics  of 
labor,  275 ;  first  supplies  of  cotton 
in,  51  ;  introduction  of  textile  ma- 
chinery in,  124;  labor  legislation  in, 
267 ;  sheep-raising  in,  44 ;  shoe 
manufactures  in,  102  ;  ten-hour  agi- 
tation in,  242;  ten-hour  law,  276; 
workingmen's  trains,  276. 

Meal,  capital  invested  in  manufacture 
of,  1S60-90,  172;  value  of  product  of 
manufacture  of,  1S60-90,  172. 

Meat-packing  and  slaughtering,  capi- 
tal invested  in,  1870-90,  174  ;  value 
of  product  of,  1S70-90,  174. 


Index. 


359 


Mechanic  arts,  encouragement  of,  in 
Maryland,  96;  necessity  of,  123. 

Mechanical  industries,  value  of  prod- 
ucts of,  in  i860,  138-139. 

Mechanical  resources  of  the  North,  153. 

Merchandise,  value  of,  in  1890,  14. 

Metals  and  metallic  goods,  wages  in 
manufacture  of,  1840-90,  220. 

Mineral  wealth  of  the  South,  155. 

Mines,  value  of  products  of,  in  1S89, 14. 

Mining,  per  capita  value  of  products 
of,  160. 

Mining  industries,  13. 

Missouri  Pacific  Railroad,  strike  on, 
307-308. 

Mule-jenny,  Crompton's,  56. 

Muskets,  early  manufacture  of,  84. 

Nails,  manufacture  of,  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, 94;  production  of  wire,  178. 

New  Hampshire,  first  press  in,  64  ; 
shipbuilding  in,  35. 

New  Jersey,  Bureau  of  Statistics  of 
Labor  and  Industries,  282,  295;  de- 
velopment of  textile  industry  in,  49; 
iron  in,  90  ;  shipbuilding  in,  38. 

Newspaper,  first,  63 ;  first  daily,  in 
America,  66  ;  second,  64. 

Newspapers,  number  of,  in  the  colo- 
nies, 66. 

New  York,  erection  of  iron  works  in, 
87;  first  iron  works  in,  88;  first 
press  in,  63;  public  spinning  in,  58; 
shipbuilding  in,  35-36. 

North  Carolina,  first  press  in,  64  ;  iron 
in,  99;  native-horn  population  of, 
147  ;  skilled  labor  dear  in,  100. 

Number  of  children  employees  in  all 
industries,  1870-90,  207. 

Number  of  persons  employed  and 
their  total  wages,  189-199. 

Number  of  women  employees  in  all 
industries,  1850-90,  205-207. 

Oleomargarine,  manufacture  of,  175- 
176. 

Organized  labor,  extent  of,  262. 

Pan  Handle  Railroad,  strike  on  the, 
302. 

Paper,  duty  on,  68;  wages  in  manu- 
facture of,  1S60-90,  221. 

Paper-mill,  first,  in  the  colonies,  65. 

Patents,  number  of,  issued,  140-141. 


Pennsylvania,  copper  in,  93  ;  encour- 
agement of  production  of  woolen 
goods  by,  4S  ;  exports  of  iron  from, 
93;  iron  in,  92;  manufacture  of 
nails  in,  94  ;  manufacture  of  small 
arms  in,  94:  shipbuilding  in,  38; 
works  for  drawing  wire  in,  94. 

Pennsylvania  Railroad,  strike  on  the, 
302-306. 

Personal  property,  value  of,  14. 

Petroleum,  capital  invested  in  the  pro- 
duction of,  1880-90,  1S3  ;  production 
of,  182-183  ;  value  of  production  of, 
1S80-90, 183. 

Philadelphia,  early  attempts  at  cotton 
manufacture  in,  55;  introduction  of 
spinning-wheel  irons  in,  48  ;  inven- 
tions by  mechanics  of,  95 ;  promi- 
nence of,  in  naval  architecture,  38. 

Pick,  definition  of,  331. 

Pieceworkers,  compared  with  oper- 
ators, 197  ;  earnings  of,  197  ;  increase 
in  number  of,  198. 

Pig-iron,  definition  of,  84  ;  refinery  in 
New  York,  89;  reputation  of,  in 
Maryland,  97. 

Pittsburg,  first  iron  foundry  at,  136. 

Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne,  and  Chicago 
Railroad,  strike  on,  302. 

Planing-mills,  product  of,  183. 

Plymouth,  1621,  73;  boatbuilding  at, 
29,31;  early  exports  from,  28  ;  settle- 
ment at,  28;  sheep-raising  in,  44; 
shipbuilding  at,  84. 

Population,  center  of,  shifted  west- 
ward, lS;  centers  of,  in  the  United 
States  at  different  census  periods, 
17;  density  of,  15;  distribution  of, 
17  ;  distribution  of,  at  eleventh  cen- 
sus, is;  increase  of,  compared  with 
increase  in  persons  employed,  338 ; 
loss  of  native,  147;  native  and  for- 
eign-born, [6;  of  the  colonies  at  litst 
census,  14;  of  the  United  States  at 
ea<  h  decennial  census,  15 ;  of  the 
United  States  in  (895,15;  urban,  18. 

Prices,  1830-60,  224  ;  1840-90,  225-226 ; 
currency  and  gold,   compared,  228; 

i\>>  line  in,  „vs;  of  commodities,  1630- 

1740,  1 10;   vai  iation  in,  no. 
Printed  niattei ,  first,  62. 


360 


Index. 


Printing,  displacement  of  hand  laboi 
'",  333  ;  obstacles  in  the  waj 

Printing  and  publishing,  61-70;  capital 
invested  in,  [860-90,  185;  value  of 
product  of,  i86o-<i" 

Printing  press,  first,  62;  second,  62; 
third,  63. 

Product,   increase    in   value    of,    193; 
number  of   persons   to  each 
worth  of,  193;  relation  of,  to  capital, 
194. 

Production,  distribution  and  center  of, 
161. 

Publications,  number  of,  in  1890,  1S5  ; 
tax  on,  67. 

Pullman  Company,  strike  of  employ- 
ees of,  313-320. 

Railroads,  expansion  of  labor  caused 
by,  339  ;  number  of  people  required 
to  operate,  339  ;  value  of,  14  ;  wages 
on,  1840-90,  222. 

Railway  mileage  in  the  United  States, 
18-19. 

Raw  material,  illustration  of  use  of,  186. 

Real  and  personal  property,  value  of, 
in  1S90,  14. 

Real  estate,  value  of,  18S9,  14. 

Rents,  increase  in,  226. 

Revolution,  conditions  at  close  of,  103  ; 
effect  of,  on  cloth  manufacture,  ss  ; 
iron  works  stimulated  by,  96  ;  ship- 
building  prior  to  the,  41. 

Rhode  Island,  first  press  in,  64  ;  manu- 
facture of  iron  in,  84;  manufacture 
of  woolen  cloths  in,  49  ;  shipbuild- 
ing in,  35. 

Rolled-iron,  definition  of,  84. 

Rolling-mill,  definition  of,  83. 

Roping,  definition  of,  124. 

Rubber  goods,  manufacture  of,  341. 

Salem,  erection  of  fulling-mill  at,  46; 
shipbuilding  at,  30. 

Salt,  manufacture  of,  29. 

Salt  works,  establishments  of,  in  Vir- 
ginia, 26. 

Saw-gin,  Whitney's,  52. 

Sawmills,  71-79;  first,  in  colonies,  71,  72; 
value  of  product  of,  in  1770,  73. 

Screw-cutting  machines,  84. 

Sewing  machine,  141  ;  displacement  of 
hand  labor  by  the,  340. 


Sheep-raising,  in  Massachusetts,  44  ; 
in  Plymouth,  44 ;  in  Virginia,  43;  in 
West  Jersej  ,  49. 

Ship  and  boatbuilders,  wages  of,  at 
close  of  colonial  period,  1 10. 

Shipbuilders,  incorporation  of,  31. 

Shipbuilding,  23-42;  at  Boston,  30; 
at  Marbli  bead,  30  ;  at  Med  ford,  30; 
at  Narragansett  Bay, 84; at  Plymouth, 
84 ;  at  Salem,  30  ;  in  Connecticut,  33; 
in  Delaware,  39;  in  Maine,  32;  in 
Maryland,  39-40;  in  Middle  States, 
39;  in  New  Hampshire,  35 ;  in  New 
Jersey,  38  ;  in  New  York,  35-36;  in 
Pennsylvania,  38;  in  Rhode  Island, 
35  ;  in  South  Carolina,  41  ;  in  South- 
ern States,  39;  in  Virginia,  40;  on 
the  Great  Lakes,  36-37  ;  prior  to  the 
Revolution,  41  ;  reputation  of  Wil- 
mington in,  39;  the  first  mechanical 
industry,  42. 

Shipbuilding  materials,  40-41. 

Ship  timber,  exportation  of,  13. 

Shoe  industry,  oldest  seat  of,  171. 

Shoe  manufactures  in  Massachusetts, 
102. 

Silk,  capital  invested  in  manufacture 
of,  1S60-90,  165  ;  production  of,  1S60- 
90,  165. 

Silk  culture,  59. 

Silver,  discovery  of,  13. 

Slater,  Samuel,  125-126,  128. 

Slave  labor,  145  ;  contrasted  with  free, 
151;  cost  of,  151;  expense  of,  149; 
introduction  of,  143. 

Slave  system  in  Virginia,  104. 

Slavery,  abolition  of,  in  Northern 
States,  144;  influence  of,  157. 

Slitting-mill,  definition  of,  83. 

Small  arms,  manufacture  of,  in  Penn- 
sylvania, 94. 

Smelting,  definition  of,  83. 

South,  diversified  industry  impossible 
in  the,  152 ;  industrial  progress  of 
the,  154 ;  mechanical  development 
of,  after  the  war,  153  ;  mineral  wealth 
of  the,  155  ;  resources  of  the,  152  ; 
transfer  of  cotton  cultivation  to  the, 
52- 

South  Carolina,  cultivation  of  cotton 
in,  51  ;   early  cotton   machinery   in, 


Index. 


361 


126 ;  encouragement  of  manufactures 

by,  50;  erection  of  fulling-mills  in, 
50;  first  iron  works  in,  100;  first 
press  in,  64  ;  native-born  population 
of,  147  ;  shipbuilding  in,  41. 

Southern  States,  cotton  industry  in, 
135  ;  shipbuilding  in,  39. 

Spindles,  number  of,  1860-90,  163; 
number  of,  at  different  periods,  134  ; 
number  to  each  operative,  195. 

Spinning-jack,  definition  of,  56. 

Spinning-jenny,  95;  definition  of,  56; 
exportation  of,  prohibited,  56;  fust, 
in  America,  122  ;  Hargreaves',  54. 

Spinning  machine,  Arkwright's,  50. 

Spinning  machinery,  55,  126;  erection 
of,  in  America,  126. 

Spinning  machines,  product  of,  331. 

Spinning-mule,  definition  of,  56. 

Spinning-wheel,  4.;,  45. 

Stage  coach,  displacement  of,  339. 

Steam,  use  of,  120. 

Steam-engine,  fust,  in  America,  95. 

Steel  and  iron,  capital  invested  in 
manufacture  of,  1860-90,  177;  value 
of  product  of,  1860-90,  177. 

Steel  and  iron  industry, growth  of,  176. 

Steel,  bessemer,  manufacture  ol 
90,  178;  first  attempts  at  the  produc- 
tion of,  in  Connecticut,  86  j  first,  pro- 
duced in  New  York,  89;  per  capita 
consumption  of,  337;  total  produc- 
tion of,  1860-90,  178. 

Stone-working,  23. 

Strike,  at  Chicago,  1894,  313-320;  at 
Homestead,  definition    of, 

293;  first,  in  the  United  States, 
293;  first  notable,  in  this  century, 
294  ;  general  railroad,  of  1S77,  302- 
306;  lesson  of  the,  317;  loss  on  ac- 
count of  the,  315;  of  employers  ..1 
the  Pullman  Company,  313-320;  of 
telegraphers,  1883,  306-307;  of  the 
American  Railway  Union,  317;  on 
Allegheny  Valley  Railroad,  302;  on 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  301  ; 
on  Gould  system  of  railroads, 
307-309;  on  Great  Northern  Rail- 
road, 317 ;  on  Lehigh  Valley  Rail- 
road, 1893,  317  ;  on  Missoui  1  I 
Railroad,  307-30S ;    on   Tan   Handle 


Railroad,  302 ;  on  Pennsylvania 
Railroad,  302-306  ;  on  Pittsburg,  Fort 
Wayne  and  Chicago  Railroad,  302. 

Strikes,  historic,  301-312 ;  influence  of 

noted,  299;  losses  by,  299;  railroad, 

77,  301;  and   lockouts,  293-320. 

Tailoring,  capital  invested  in,  1860-90, 
167  ;  value  of  product  of,  1860-90, 167. 

Telegraphers'  strike  of  1883,  306-307. 

Telegraphy,  influence  of,  in  causing 
expansii  in  of  labor,  338. 

Telephone,  influence  of,  in  causing  ex- 
pansion of  [aboi , 

Ten-hour  agitation  in  Massachusetts, 
•■  ;■'• 

Ten-hour  law  in  Massachusetts,  276. 

Ten-hour  movement,  240. 

Ten-hour  system,  268. 

Texas,  n. 

Textile  factory,  fust,  124. 

Textile  industries,  43-60;  increase  o( 
women  employees  in,  1S50-90,  208. 

Textile  industry,  development  of,  49; 
indicative  character  of,  137. 

Textile  machinery,  first  attempts  to 
re,  121 ;  introduction  of,  124-125. 

Textile  manufactures,  importance  of, 
162;  increase  in  number  of  employ- 
ees in,  1860-90,  iii;  increase  in 
wages  of  employees  in,  1S60-90,  194. 

Textiles,  capital  invested  in  manufac- 
ture of,  1S60-90,  i'.i  ;  displacement  of 

hand   labor  in    manufacture  of,  331  ; 

value  of  production  of,  1860-90,  161. 
Tide-mill,  definition  of,  47. 
Tide-mills,  erection   of,  47. 
Tile  and    brick,   capital    invested    in 

manufacture  of,   [860-90,  is,|  ;  value 

of  produi  tion  <.f,  1S60-90,  184. 
Timber,  exportation  of,  1  ;. 
Timber  produi  ts,  1  1. 
Tinware,  first  manufacture  of,  88. 
Tobacco,  exchange  of,  for  necessaries 

of  life,  28;  exportation  of,  13. 
Tobacco  plant,  cultivation  of,  26. 
Tons  burden,  definition  of,  28. 

Tools,  exportation  of,  prohibited,  121. 
Total    number   of  employees,    1S50-90, 

191. 
Total  wages  paid  to   all  empl 
I,  [92. 


362 


Index. 


Trade,  regulation  of,  in  colonics,  264. 

Trades  unions,  list  of  early,  244. 

Transportation,  by  water,  19;  great 
influence  of,  18. 

Truck  system,  286-287. 

Typewriting  machines,  manufacture 
of,  179. 

United  States  Department  of  Labor, 
275.  297  ;  establishment  of,  275. 

Values,  expansion  of,  342. 

Vessel,    first,    in  this  country,  29. 

Vessels,  construction  of  war,  36. 

Virgitiia,  development  of  iron  works 
in,  98-99  ;  efforts  to  develop  textile 
manufactures  in,  48;  exports  from, 
25  ;  first  attempt  at  iron-making  in, 
97;  first  fulling-mills  in,  48;  first 
to  make  bricks,  76;  imports  and 
exports  of,  48  ;  native-born  popu- 
lation of,  147;  opposition  to  de- 
velopment of  textile  manufactures 
in,  48;  planters  in,  27  ;  sheep-raishij' 
in,  43;  shipbuilding  in,  40;  slave 
system  in,  104;  useful  arts  in,  "27  ; 
wages  in,  109  ;  woolen  manufacture 
in,  48. 

Wages,  attempts  at  regulation  of,  105- 
107;  average,  in  leading  industries, 
at  different  periods,  218;  effect  of 
attempts  to  regulate,  10S ;  gain  in, 
as  a  result  of  machinery,  348  ;  high- 
est in  Western  States,  195;  in  all 
industries,  1840-90,  223  ;  in  building 
trades,  219-220  ;  1840-90,  222  ;  in  city 
public  works,  1854-90,  217;  in  manu- 
facture of  agricultural  inplements, 
1860-90,  219 ;  in  manufacture  of 
carriages  and  wagons,  1840-90,  224; 
in  manufacture  of  cotton  goods, 
1840-90,  218;  in  manufacture  of 
metals  and  metallic  goods,  1840-90, 
220;  in  manufacture  of  paper,  1860- 
90,  221  ;  in  production  of  books  and 
newspapers,  1842-90,' 219 ;  in  pro- 
duction of  lumber,  1840-90,  220;  in 
production  of  woolen  goods,  1850-90, 


221;  in  Virginia,  109;  labor  and 
rates  of,  1790-1890,  215-228;  notion 
that  law  could  fix,  107;  of  cotton- 
mill  operatives,  216;  of  ship  and 
boatbuilders  at  close  of  colonial 
period,  110;  of  the  sexes,  dispro- 
portion between,  211;  on  railroads, 
1840-90,  222;  opposition  to  arbitrary, 
114;  the  number  of  persons  em- 
ployed and  their  total,  189-199; 
total,  1850-90,  191  ;  total,  paid  to  all 
employees,  192  ;  towns  authorized  to 
fix,  106. 

Wages  and  labor,  104-114. 

Water-mills,  72. 

Wealth,  of  the  country,  13-14;  of  the 
country,  in  1890,  14  ;  per  capita,  14. 

Windmills,  74. 

Wire,  works  for  drawing,  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, 94. 

Wi.i  q  nails,  production  of,  178. 

Women,  conditions  of  employment  of, 
.  2o6r207,  211-213  ^employees  in  all  in- 

'  dustries1,  number  of,  1850-90,  205-207; 
increase  in  number  of,  in  industry, 
205-209;  wages  of,  109,  112. 

Women  and  children,  average  earn- 
ings of,  in  cotton  manufacturing 
states,  210;  in  industry,  200-214. 

Wool,  beginning  of  manufacture  of, 
46. 

Wool-card,  definition  of,  50. 

Wool  manufacture,  capital  invested  in, 
1860-90, 163-164 ;  value  of  product  of, 
1860-90, 163-164. 

Woolen  cloth,  manufacture  of,  in 
Rhode  Island,  49;  production  of,  in 
Connecticut,  47  ;  in  Virginia,  48. 

Woolen  goods,  encouragement  of  pro- 
duction of,  by  Pennsylvania,  48; 
total  value  of,  in  i860,  139;  wages  in 
production  of,  1S50-90,  221. 

Workingmen,  condition  of,  during 
colonial  period,  112-114. 

Workingmen's  trains,  276. 

Workmen,   importation   of  skilled,  25. 


93 


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